MUMBAI: The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to talk tough with its ally, the Shiv Sena, sources said on Sunday, and a BJP cabinet minister said his party expects the alliance to come apart before the 2017 civic elections.

The bypoll to the Bandra (E) assembly seat in April may prove to be the ultimate stress test for the alliance, analysts said. With Sena baiter Narayan Rane contesting on a Congress ticket, the Sena will need the BJP’s support to get Tripti Sawant elected.

The BJP can help the Sena win with its resources and manpower. “But the Sena will have to mend its ways if it wants our support,” said another senior BJP minister. Many in the state BJP are keen on seeing Rane return to the assembly, given his vocal opposition to the Sena, political observers said.

The tense relationship between the partners deteriorated after the Sena put up a candidate to contest the council chairman election. The Sena eventually pulled out its candidate after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, but the episode has left the BJP leadership bitter.

“It was a political strategy to support NCP nominee Ramraje Nimbalkar, as for the BJP, the NCP is more important than the Sena in the Upper House. It’s like the Rajya Sabha. In the state legislative council, we need strong support from the NCP to ensure passage of crucial bills,’’ the cabinet minister said.

Fadnavis recently held consultations with Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve on how to tame the Sena. The chief minister, over the weekend, held talks with Union minister for surface transport Nitin Gadkari too on the issue.

“The central leadership has clearly instructed the state BJP to act tough with the Sena in the run-up to the byelection. We are fed up with the Sena’s antics. It will have to be told how to behave as a partner,” the second BJP minister stated.

A Saamna editorial last week likening the BJP to British-Portuguese “pirates” who always had an eye on Mumbai seems to have added fuel to the fire. “Fadnavis has set his eyes on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Under such circumstances, the chances of the BJP and Sena contesting together appear bleak. In that event, the BJP will have to terminate its alliance with the Sena,’’ the first cabinet minister said, pointing out that BJP workers were against joining hands with the Sena for the civic polls.

But the Sena has its own grouses. “The BJP’s strategy is to browbeat us by flaunting the NCP card regularly. This is certainly not in keeping with the alliance dharma,” a senior Sena functionary said.

“There is abundant trust deficit in the ruling alliance,” a Mantralaya bureaucrat said on Sunday.

