Can old Maharashtra allies Shiv Sena, BJP unite again?

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s public bashing of ally Congress, two weeks after the one-on-one meeting between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a sensational letter by Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik demanding reunion with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have led to speculation over the old allies coming together again

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s public bashing of ally Congress, two weeks after the one-on-one meeting between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a sensational letter by Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik demanding reunion with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have led to speculation over the old allies coming together again. Senior leaders from both the parties have said it is unlikely to happen anytime soon and the statements and developments could be part of political game-plan by Sena to keep its allies in check.

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Thackeray met Modi in Delhi in a one-on-one meeting two weeks ago keeping deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and public works minister Ashok Chavan waiting outside. It sparked off speculations over the two old allies coming together in state politics. Thackeray’s speech delivered on the foundation day of his party on Saturday, fuelled these speculations as he openly snubbed Congress, Sena’s junior partner in ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi coalition led by him. He gave an earful to the Congress for its announcement to go solo in forthcoming elections. A day later, his party MLA Sarnaik’s letter, in which he urged his party chief to forge the alliance with BJP once again to avoid action against party leaders and their families, surfaced on social media. The legislator is facing an inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate. This escalated the talks over the re-union of the parties that were in alliance over three decades before snapping ties in 2019.

“There are theories being floated by the BJP that the Sena will agree to the re-union to avoid action by the central agencies against its leaders. But our party will not succumb to the pressure as such threats are not new to us. In fact, our party leadership is using the situation to keep the two ruling parties under check, especially after they started talking about going solo and sharing of CM’s post. The party leadership wants to send out a clear message to the allies to not take the Sena for granted,” said a Sena leader. The leader said there was nothing wrong in Thackeray meeting Modi, if NCP chief Sharad Pawar could meet Amit Shah in Ahmedabad secretly.

“The way things stand today, both Thackeray and Pawar are on good terms, which is important for the stability of this government. However, what will happen after some time can’t be said now. The fact is that the BJP leadership would love to see the Sena back in the NDA,” said the leader.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday said the alliance in Maharashtra is an ideal one in the entire country and the three ruling parties are together. “The government will complete its term even if the people who lost power tried to topple it. They will not succeed in creating a rift between us. Whatever Pratap Sarnaik has said was his own stand, but party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s decision (to form the government with the Congress and NCP) was taken after deliberating with other leaders,” he said.

Raut said no discussion was held on the alliance in the forthcoming elections. He said though every party has right to expand their base, it is the responsibility of all three parties to ensure the government completes its term. Raut said the three ruling parties are committed to rule according to the common doctrine of common minimum program chalked out during formation of the government.

Sena MP and former union minister Arvind Sawant said that though the two parties and its leaders share good relations, they do not treat the opposition as enemies, and it does not mean Sena-BJP will come together.

Political analyst Hemant Desai said, “Sena workers and even leaders are grossly upset with the BJP over the treatment their party has received over last few years. They do not approve of the attempts by the BJP to destabilise MVA government. In such a situation, it would be embarrassing if the Sena joined hands with BJP,” he said.

The BJP leaders were divided over their reaction to the leaked letter written by Sarnaik. A few leaders like Somaiya and Nitesh Rane said that the MLA wrote the letter after he realised about his potential arrest. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil has reacted very cautiously. “Not only Sarnaik, there are many other MLAs and MPs from Shiv Sena who want the two parties should come together. However, the final decision about the alliance is taken by our party leaders Amit Shah and JP Nadda. Even if any such offer comes across by any party, our leaders will take a call on it. It is not possible for me to comment on any such alliance in the near future,” he said.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the state government was intact and it will complete its term under the leadership of Thackeray. “Even Thackeraysaheb has clarified that there would be no alliance with the BJP. We will continue to be part of the MVA for five years as we had joined the alliance with the sole intention of keeping the BJP out of the power. After all attempts to topple the government failed, the BJP is now using central agencies to destabilise the government. It is unfortunate that the BJP which benefitted for widening its base because of Sena and its founder Bal Thackeray three decades ago, is after his son and CM Uddhav Thackeray. Sarnaik’s letter clearly points at the harassment he, his family and other Shiv Sena MLAs have been facing by the central agencies. It has not remained secret anymore that the ruling parties have been using these agencies for political reasons,” he said.

It was Patole’s remarks that the Congress will go solo in future elections that prompted Thackeray to react angrily.

Patole said that if Shiv Sena and NCP are talking of joining hands for the forthcoming elections, he complimented them and urges them to come together at the earliest. “Every party has right to expand its base, so has it to these two parties and Congress as well. If the NCP is finding fault with our desire to going solo, it must remember that it has quit Prithviraj Chavan government a few months ahead its term in 2014,” he said.