CM Fadnavis and many other BJP leaders have made many unsuccessful overtures to miffed ally Sena. What’s behind these attempts and snubs?
Mumbai: With the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) firming up their alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started making frequent overtures to its bitter ally Shiv Sena. The latter, however, continues to snub it.
The BJP’s latest attempt at extending an olive branch came when finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar sought a meeting with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Monday. Sources in the Shiv Sena said Thackeray declined.
“Uddhav ji has not given time to Sudhir Mungantiwar today. There is no meeting happening. The BJP has been trying to talk to us through various means, but we haven’t given them any response at all,” a senior Sena leader said.
However, speaking to television channels, Mungantiwar said there was no question of Thackeray denying him a meeting. “Uddhav saheb was out of the country. He was going to arrange for a meeting once back. He will do so in due course,” he said, adding that the meeting was mainly to discuss having the monsoon session of the legislature in Nagpur instead of Mumbai, and not necessarily to talk about repairing the age-old alliance between the parties.
“An alliance happens with the consent of two parties. It is not forced. If Shiv Sena doesn’t want an alliance, there is no issue. The BJP’s stand is that our name should not feature among alliance-breakers, but alliance-makers.”
Recent attempts
Despite still being part of the BJP-led Maharashtra government and a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance, the Shiv Sena has constantly played the role of opposition from the treasury benches. Earlier this year, it had resolved to contest all upcoming elections independently.
Relations between the two parties have been increasingly choppy since before the assembly polls 2014, when the two parties went their separate ways after a 25-year alliance due to disagreements over seat sharing. They came back together for a post-poll alliance to form the government, but the numbers forced a role reversal — big brother Shiv Sena was reduced to the junior partner.
Recently, however, BJP leaders began wooing the Sena again, despite its constant barbs and a vocal decision to contest the 2019 polls on its own.
Last week, at an award function organised by media house Lokmat, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed confidence that the Sena would ally with the BJP for the elections. The interview was conducted by Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and the executive editor of its mouthpiece, Saamana.
“A party whose ideologue is Bal Thackeray will have no option but to ally with the BJP in 2019,” Fadnavis said, adding that Uddhav was moving forward with his father’s ideology.
The CM added that at a time when “pseudo-secular” parties were joining hands, it was imperative for the Hindutva parties “who treat all religions equally” to come together.
Before that, Fadnavis and BJP president Amit Shah — speaking at the BJP’s foundation day function in Mumbai on 6 April, hinted at the party’s willingness to have the Shiv Sena as its partner. Shah said: “It is our heartiest wish that Sena stays with us.”
Fadnavis, speaking at a ground full of BJP workers, had also invoked Bal Thackeray, calling him an “inspiration” to all Hindus and a person who, with the BJP, raised the consciousness of Maharashtra.
Similarly, minister Chandrakant Patil recently showed solidarity with the Shiv Sena by criticising NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who had compared the Sena to an earthworm. BJP Maharashtra president Raosaheb Danve too publicly said that the Shiv Sena would stay with the BJP.
Sena’s reaction
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said the BJP’s overtures were a sign that it was getting desperate.
“The sand is slipping from under the BJP’s feet. The situation is so bad that the party is desperate. Officially, no talks have started. But, we are determined to go it alone, so the question of talks doesn’t arise,” he said.
On Sunday, Raut slammed the BJP as “opportunistic” in his Saamana column. He highlighted the disrespect meted out to his party over the past nearly four years, and how the BJP wants to now forge an alliance for 2019 because it is unsure of itself.
“Truth be told, Shiv Sena is the only true national face of Hindutva, and once Shiv Sena leaves for good, the BJP’s pseudo Hindutva will be open for everyone to see. The party wants the Shiv Sena because it is certain that it will not be able to get a majority in the Lok Sabha elections on its own,” he wrote.
Why the BJP is keen, while Sena plays hardball
Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha and has 288 assembly seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, which the BJP and Shiv Sena contested as allies, the former contested 24 seats and won 23, while the latter fought 20 seats, winning 18. The Congress and the NCP were decimated.
Six months later, both alliances collapsed to make way for a four-cornered fight, in which the BJP won 122 seats, the Shiv Sena won 63, while the Congress and the NCP got 42 and 41 respectively.
However, now, the Congress and the NCP have reconciled and even hammered out a seat-sharing agreement for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The two parties have also raised their voices against the government on issues of graft and farmers’ distress, and have often been joined by the Sena.
Speaking about the changing landscape across the country, political commentator Prakash Bal said: “The BJP has been nervous after the Uttar Pradesh bypoll defeat and the joining of forces between leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. Across the country, there is a perception that the Modi government is losing ground. In Maharashtra, there is a huge distress among the farm community which adds to that perception. The BJP is apprehensive about all this.”
With most of the Shiv Sena cadre wanting to break ties with the BJP, swatting away the olive branch may not only keep these foot soldiers happy, but also prepare ground for a stronger voice in negotiations.
“Uddhav Thackeray might ultimately once again demand that the Sena gets to contest on 151 of the 288 seats. Much of what the BJP’s stand will be depends on the election outcomes in various state legislatures over the next six months,” Bal said.