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Not the best of friends
One-upmanship is the name of the game between two parties that make up one of the oldest political alliances in the country. The BJP and the Shiv Sena have been
One-upmanship is the name of the game between two parties that make up one of the oldest political alliances in the country. The BJP and the Shiv Sena have been together since 1989, fell out briefly in 2014, only to get back together to ensure they shared power in Maharashtra. It is the terms of this reconciliation that are behind the almost constant carping and sniping between the two parties. The Sena is yet to reconcile to the fact that it is no more the big brother, while the BJP under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is different from the BJP under Vajpayee-Advani, which was always careful to observe the niceties while dealing with a touchy tiger.
The Shiv Sena, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, has toned down the aggressive grandstanding that served its founder, the late Bal Thackeray, well. His son and present chief — Uddhav Thackeray — is a different personality. But a tiger will not change its stripes. So the Sena reacts aggressively to what it sees as infringement of its territory. For, ever since it emerged the single-largest party in the 2014 assembly elections in Maharashtra, the BJP has adopted an aggressive expansion strategy in a state. As such, winning elections, due soon, to most of the urban and rural local bodies would be the next logical step for the BJP. This is where it has run up against the Sena, which is sustained by its control of Mumbai’s civic body, the country’s richest. Uddhav Thackeray has told his party men to prepare to go solo and they will be only too willing, smarting as they are under what they perceive as the BJP’s big-brotherly attitude. The Sena is known to be unhappy with the portfolios it has got in the governments in the state and at the Centre. As for the BJP, its rank and file too apparently wants to go it alone, though the state party leaders are more conciliatory eyeing as they are seats in local bodies in other parts of Maharashtra.
The BJP can certainly do with the Sena’s help here to take on the Congress and the NCP. The Sena’s prime focus is Mumbai as far as local bodies go, though it has started to spread its wings in the urban areas. Does that mean the two parties will part ways? Or are they waiting to see who will blink first? What is inevitable is that even if they do contest separately, the saffron allies could get back together to retain power, especially in Mumbai.
