Are BJP and Shiv Sena witnessing a thaw in relations?

Is there a thaw in the relations between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Shiv Sena chief

Is there a thaw in the relations between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray?

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With the PM and the Union Home minister stepping in to bail Thackeray out of the impending constitutional crisis, there is speculation that the relations between the former allies may improve. It is learnt that the option to seek permission from the Election Commission of India to hold the polls for the nine Vidhan Parishad seats postponed due to Covid-19 came from the BJP’s top brass in Delhi. Thackeray had called PM Modi on Wednesday and Union Home minister Amit Shah a day later to discuss the issue and seek their co-operation. With the Election Commission giving a go-ahead to conduct the polls, Thackeray once elected to the Upper House will get the entire term of six years as opposed to just two months of tenure he would have got if he was appointed under the Governor’s quota. The two vacant seats under the Governor’s quota have only two months of tenure remaining.

“The suggestion to get the EC to hold the polls was given to the CM by the BJP’s leadership from Delhi as a better option than to get nominated through the Governor’s quota and again seek a permanent solution after two months. The CM reached out to both of them,” said a Sena leader.

A former BJP minister said this meant the party leadership was willing to look ahead. “At the end of the day, the Sena has been bailed out by our PM. We are willing to look ahead. One can’t rule out future alliances at any stage.”

Not everyone within both the BJP and the Shiv Sena camps are, however, willing to believe that this is a sign that frayed relations are set to improve. The former allies broke ties after Thackeray alleging betrayal (on the BJP’s part to split the CM’s post with the Sena) tied up with former rivals, the Congress and NCP, and formed the government in Maharashtra. The Sena leaders said their party would wait for Thackeray to get elected before commenting on whether the BJP-Sena relations have turned a corner. “There is no denying that in this case, they have co-operated with us. But we have not got much help from the Centre in tackling the coronavirus in the past two months. There have also been attempts to tarnish the Thackeray government as ineffectual when the contrary is true. There may be an attempt to stall the election by moving a petition in the court against the elections as well,” said a Sena leader.

Former CM and leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the governor’s recommendation on Thursday and tweeted: “We are sure that the ECI in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs will take decision to conduct election ASAP. This will prevent Maharashtra from going into instability in the testing times of corona outbreak and will also uphold the values of our Constitution.”

State BJP president Chandrakant Patil also put out a similar tweet. A senior BJP leader and former minister however said, “It may be too early to arrive at any conclusion. This is not the right time to play politics as public perception will go against us. This does not mean all is well or that will be in the forseeable future.”

Political analyst Surendra Jondhale also said: “The Centre may not have wanted chaos at this stage. It would have reflected badly and turned perception against them, especially as Thackeray has gained some popularity. The entire episode reflects badly on the Governor who seemed to have bypassed his statutory responsibility. He waited for two weeks to give any response and then gave the task to the ECI after party top brass blessed the move.”