Idea drought in poll season

With the assembly elections approaching, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra is between a rock and a very hard place while the ruling Congress-NCP combine is floundering, hoping it can keep its head above water.

With the assembly elections approaching, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra is between a rock and a very hard place while the ruling Congress-NCP combine is floundering, hoping it can keep its head above water.

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Faced with the anti-incumbency factor, the ruling alliance is taking heart from the fact that the saffron parties have no proper issues. "When it rains, Bal Thackeray takes the credit for the monsoon," says Margaret Alva, AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, who is holding a series of meetings before the party begins distributing tickets.

CM Sushilkumar Shinde is sure it will all work out, particularly because the monsoon has finally arrived bringing relief to farmers.

The Sena is still harping on Mani Shankar Aiyar's comments on Veer Savarkar. But even Thackeray realises that Savarkar might not be an election issue outside Mumbai and Pune. The BJP deliberately kept away from the Sena's joota maro andolan last week (when Sainiks threw shoes at Aiyar's effigy).

It has also stayed away from the Sena's "bhajan gao" andolan in Mumbai's trains, to protest against the railways' decision to ban the singing of bhajans because it causes inconvenience to commuters. Far from impressing the people, the Sena's aggressiveness on this issue - Sainiks boarded trains in hoards to sing bhajans throughout the day on Monday - has only irritated commuters.

The abrupt changes in the Sena's campaigns is worrying its partner, particularly because the BJP itself seems to have run out of campaigners and is banking heavily on Thackeray this time round.