Mumbai: At a press conference on 9 November, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had called Devendra Fadnavis a “liar”. For those assembled in the room, it was a mere syllable. But for Thackeray, the word summed up five years of anger and frustration at being pushed into a side role in the power-sharing game.
In the five years from 2014, the Shiv Sena had seethed and fumed but that did not seem to have any impact on Fadnavis. Flush from the victory of winning 122 of Maharashtra’s 288 assembly seats in the Lok Sabha elections that year, Fadnavis, in his first stint as chief minister, “forgot the dharma of coalition politics”. He didn’t seem to take into account that the Shiv Sena’s 63 seats were needed to make up the power tally and put him in the chief minister’s chair.
“Fadnavis started believing that he was invincible. He became a slave of his clean image. Coalition politics is about taking along people, not cutting off people. This is something that Fadnavis forgot,” said a senior BJP leader.
As months ran by, it was observed that Fadnavis did not involve the Shiv Sena in important policy decisions. These actions were not lost on the Thackerays, and a tug of war started between them and Fadnavis. Although in the government as an ally, the Shiv Sena became Fadnavis’ biggest adversary and took on the role of the opposition in Maharashtra.
Also read: Collapse of Shiv Sena’s alliance with BJP threatens its control over cash-rich BMC
The clashes began with the Jaitapur nuclear plant project, which the Shiv Sena vehemently opposed. The 9900 MW project by French company Areva saw large-scale protests by anti-nuclear activists and the residents of Jaitapur, a coastal village in Ratnagiri. The Shiv Sena joined in and demanded that the project be shifted out of Jaitapur. The BJP ignored the demand.
Then came the proposals mooted by Aaditya Thackeray, Uddhav’s son and youth wing head of the party. He was keen on giving Mumbai a night life and had proposed the opening of roof-top restaurants, night markets and keeping shopping malls open through the night. Citing security reasons, Fadnavis kept the proposals on the backburner. The proposals were also mocked in private circles, said sources.
Aaditya also protested against felling trees to build a car-shed for the Mumbai Metro in the lush forest area of Aarey, in Mumbai’s western suburbs. He criticised the Fadnavis government for the tree-felling.
These protestors can’t be arrested and filed cases with. It’s a shame if we do that. I call out and request @CMOMaharashtra to look into this and ask the police to not put any cases for people with love for the environment. We’d be hypocritical then at the @UN if we do this. https://t.co/tEFOvB0gNd
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) October 5, 2019
The use of a large number of police personnel. Hacking trees in the dead of the night, even after winning in court (then why not broad day light) and detention of peaceful protesters and citizens. Who is authorising this? During Code of Conduct? All these powers handed to MMRC? https://t.co/SGv5yySfXn
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) October 5, 2019
Detaining citizens and arresting youth for standing with environment. So much for speaking about environment at global level while we destroy ecosystems here in the middle of the night. https://t.co/BI10eHsUIz
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) October 5, 2019
Troubled ties
Since the time the Shiv Sena entered into a political alliance with the BJP in the mid-1980s, they have always been a ‘Big Brother’ to the latter. But the BJP winning 59 seats more than the Shiv Sena in 2014 reversed that equation.
Thackeray was not given any prominence in functions of the Maharashtra government. He was initially not invited for the 2015 ground-breaking ceremony of the Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar. Later, when an invite was sent, it was found that he was not given a front-row seat next to PM Narendra Modi. Eventually, Thackeray skipped the event. Sources said Thackeray did not forget this insult.
Another point of disagreement between the allies was the importance accorded to Narayan Rane by Fadnavis. Rane is a former chief minister who quit the Shiv Sena and became a bitter critic of the Thackerays.
Rane, a regional satrap in the Konkan belt where he helped make the Shiv Sena a formidable force, embarked on a path of direct conflict with the Thackerays, allegedly covertly supported by Fadnavis. Despite the displeasure shown by the Thackerays, Rane was supported by the BJP and elected to the Rajya Sabha. His son, Nitesh was inducted into the party and is the MLA from Kankavli in the Konkan region. In the Maharashtra elections, Nitesh had contested against the official Shiv Sena candidate.
“Uddhavji felt that Fadnavis was acting against their interest. It is his arrogance which got him into direct conflict with Uddhavji,” said a Shiv Sena functionary.
The war of slogans during the assembly polls also escalated the trust deficit between Thackeray and Fadnavis. Fadnavis’ slogan, “Meech Parat Yein (I will come back)” made the Shiv Sena fume as they felt it was a challenge to Thackeray’s declaration that the next CM will be from the Shiv Sena.
Also read: Sena-Congress ‘friendship’ goes back 50 yrs — a story of helping each other grow in Mumbai