Maharashtra: BJP’s Chandrakant Patil meets MNS chief Raj Thackeray

The meeting has fuelled speculations over a BJP-MNS tie up in the civic polls slated to be held early next year. The meeting is seen as the first step towards an alliance between the two parties.

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Chandrakant Patil called on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray at the latter’s residence in Dadar on Friday morning, fuelling speculations over a BJP-MNS tie up in the civic polls slated to be held early next year. The meeting is seen as the first step towards an alliance between the two parties.

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil met MNS chief Raj Thackeray at the latter’s residence in Dadar on Friday morning.

After the Shiv Sena snapped ties with the BJP in October 2019 to form the government in Maharashtra with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, the saffron party was left with no major alliance partner. The BJP is in the search of a partner for the local body elections when 22 municipal corporations, 24 district councils and dozens of other local bodies will have elections.

The MNS enjoys sizable pockets in cities like Mumbai, Nashik, Kalyan-Dombivli and could help the BJP in garnering votes of Marathi speaking population and denting the vote bank of friend-turned-foe Sena which effectively plays the Marathi manoos card to get votes of Maharashtrians in metropolitan areas of the state. The MNS uses the same sons of the soil plank for elections.

The BJP has time and again clarified that it cannot join hands with the MNS unless the latter shreds its regional and linguistic chauvinism and hatred towards outsiders. Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last week said, “We cannot think of an alliance with the MNS unless it adopts inclusive Hindutva and changes its stand towards north Indians. We welcome the MNS’s Hindutva stand of late, but it should be an inclusive Hindutva.”

Patil, after meeting Thackeray on Friday, said there was neither a discussion over an alliance nor was there any proposal for it. He said he had a conversation with Thackeray on the issue of migrants and was convinced that the MNS chief does not hate migrants. “It was a courtesy visit after he invited me for tea when we happened to meet each other during our separate tours last week in Nashik. When he casually asked about our stand on alliance with the MNS, I had clarified to him about the perception outsiders have in their minds about him. He sent me a clip of his speech delivery before the gathering of north Indians. I have, after hearing it, no doubt in mind that his stand, being a regional leader, is right. If he says that locals should get 80% of jobs and it should be the policy in any given state, there should not be any problem with it. The only thing he needs to change is the perception, as his stand appears as hatred towards them,” he said.

Patil’s meeting assumes significance as it was held a day ahead of meetings with party’s central leadership in Delhi. Patil is expected to discuss the issue with BJP president JP Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah.

On the other hand, the MNS too was reportedly positive about an alliance with the BJP for the forthcoming elections. Party leaders have conveyed to the BJP that the MNS no longer attacks north Indians. Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said, “Anything can happen in politics. We need to be positive. Raj saheb has not of late criticised North Indians. We have conveyed it to BJP leaders by sending a clip of our party chief’s speech. There is no misconception (about our stand) among the people. Our leader will clarify it at the appropriate time.”

MNS workers have been pressuring their top brass to tie up with the BJP. With the Sena in power in the state and Mumbai civic body, MNS workers are feeling the heat. “We will not be in a position to win beyond 10 seats on our own in the forthcoming Mumbai civic polls. Workers are impatient and need influence and power, which only can be achieved with the tie-up,” said a senior MNS leader who refused to come on record.

Many feel the BJP needs the MNS more than the other way round. “Many BJP candidates lost in 2017 Mumbai civic polls by a few hundred votes, and this is where the MNS vote bank can come in handy for them,” said another MNS functionary.

The BJP, too, is positive about joining hands with MNS. “Especially after it has been clear that re-alliance between Sena and BJP is impossible, we desperately need an alliance partner. Alliance with the MNS will help us strengthen our roots in Marathi pockets and also dent the Sena, which is our enemy number 1 in Maharashtra. But before forging an alliance with the MNS, we want to send a clear message that we are not compromising on the interest of north Indians who are our core vote bank. Our party leadership wants to make Raj Thackeray to come clear on it,” said a BJP leader.

Thackeray had become a bitter critic of the BJP prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and held several rallies in the state criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, on issues such as economy, foreign and domestic policies, and welfare schemes for farmers. He had also been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with transactions related to the purchase of Kohinoor Mills land at Dadar in central Mumbai. However, recently, he has refrained from criticising Modi and turned his ire on his cousin and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

In January 2020, he unveiled his party’s new flag which is saffron-coloured, symbolising his party’s drift towards the Hindutva ideology. The MNS has lost political ground over the years. The party had 13 MLAs in the 2009-2014 Maharashtra Assembly, but won only one Assembly seat each in 2014 and 2019.