Meeting comes in the wake of a bitter Lok Sabha bypoll that saw the allies pitted against each other in Palghar; the Sena, which lost, alleged issues in the counting process.
Mumbai: Amid a widening rift between allies BJP and Shiv Sena, following a bitterly contested Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra, BJP president Amit Shah will Wednesday meet Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree, the latter’s residence in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra.
The meeting comes at a time when the BJP has been making constant overtures to the Shiv Sena to get its warring ally on board for an alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls. The Shiv Sena has resolved to contest independently.
“They (the BJP president’s office) have requested for the meeting. They have been proposing a meeting for some time now. From the Shiv Sena’s point of view, we have absolutely no agenda for this meeting,” Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP said.
Raut had recently described the Shiv Sena as the BJP’s biggest enemy in his weekly column in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
Special outreach drive
Shah will be in Mumbai Wednesday as part of the BJP’s ‘Vishesh Sampark Abhiyaan’, a drive to convey the achievements of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government over the past four years. As part of the drive, the BJP president plans to personally reach 50 key people to impress upon them the work done by the NDA. So far, Shah has met personalities such as Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, former cricketer Kapil Dev and former Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag.
“The BJP president’s meeting with Thackeray is also part of the special drive. After all, the Shiv Sena is part of the NDA,” said Keshav Upadhyay, media cell in charge of the BJP’s Maharashtra unit.
A BJP leader said Thackeray is the only political figure that Shah will meet in Mumbai; his other meetings will be with Lata Mangeshkar and perhaps Ratan Tata.
Growing apart
Shah’s meeting with Thackeray holds special significance in political circles as it comes close on the heels of the Lok Sabha bypoll at Palghar.
The BJP has been trying to extend an olive branch to the Shiv Sena with Shah himself saying, “It is our heartiest wish that Sena stays with us.”
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve and senior Maharashtra BJP ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Chandrakant Patil too have made similar statements, with Mungantiwar even trying to reach out to Thackeray for talks on the alliance.
The BJP is politically compelled to ally with the Shiv Sena in the 2019 polls as the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too have decided to mend ties and contest the elections together.
However, Shiv Sena is miffed with the BJP, alleging that the party takes its allies for granted, and has resolved to contest all elections independently.
Relations worsened after the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll, as Shiv Sena, wanting to emphasise its resolve, nominated deceased Palghar BJP MP Chintaman Wanga’s son, Shrinivas, as its candidate, and campaigned aggressively, annoying its ally. It also questioned the integrity of the Election Commission and blamed faulty voting machines and a glitch in the counting process for the party’s defeat to the BJP in the bypoll.
The BJP, in turn, poached Rajendra Gavit, a locally-strong Congress leader, and nominated him for the bypoll, which he won. It also got a star cast of leaders such as Fadnavis, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Smriti Irani to campaign.
BJP leaders, however, have once again been trying to placate the Sena following the elections.
Uddhav Thackerry has only inherited the throne of Shiv Sena by virtue of his being the son of Tiger Bal Thackerry. His personality and oratory is very poor compared to what Bala Saheb used to have in his times. But he has maintained SS tradition of meeting all visitors at Matoshree. The SS under his command is now a fading force. What can we expect from this SS when its next president is already presumed to be his son at some time when the need arises. Only wish SS becomes as dynamic as it used to be during Bal Thackerry times. It should always be a part of BJP in fighting the Muslim appeasing forces in the country.