Despite Karnataka, BJP wary of Shiv Sena, Cong-NCP

As the results poured in on Tuesday, the Sena was firm about its decision to fight the 2019 elections on its own.

  It may have emerged as the single largest party in the Karnataka Assembly polls, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra is still wary about elections in the state in 2019 for two reasons.

First, a likely pre-poll alliance between the two big opposition parties in the state, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and second, its ally Shiv Sena’s plans to go solo in the 2019 polls. What could make it worse for the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP is if the Karnataka governor invites the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress combine to form government in Karnataka, as this would bolster plans of opposition parties to put up a united front in Maharashtra.

As the results poured in on Tuesday, the Sena was firm about its decision to fight the 2019 elections on its own. “The Sena has its own agenda and we are going ahead under the guidance of party chief Uddhav Thackeray,” senior Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai said.

Desai said Maharashtra and Karnataka could not be compared as they have different political and social factors. “There is no reason for the Sena to reconsider its stand to contest polls solo in Maharashtra in the backdrop of the Karnataka results,” he said.

The BJP is still confident of winning in the Centre in 2019 . Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said PM Narendra Modi has emerged as the most popular leader of the country in post-independence era. “The ray of hope created by PM Modi in 2014 has been converted in to a ray of trust with the results in Karnataka,” Fadnavis said. “This indicates the BJP and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will get more seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as compared to 2014.” While the BJP’s return to power in Gujarat and its impressive show in Karnataka boosts the party’s morale in the state, the Maharashtra government is currently struggling to handle farmers’ issues and rural distress effectively.

As far as the Sena’s position goes, political experts believe the party may change its mind by the end of the year, as the BJP is keen on taking them on board for the 2019 elections. “The stand of both the BJP and Shiv Sena so far has been that they will continue their alliance despite the differences and in-fighting all these years. Hence, the Sena may just go with the BJP, as the latter is showing all the desperation to be in alliance with it,” said Pratap Aasbe, a political analyst.

The Congress and the NCP in the state, meanwhile, may take lessons from the joint vote share the Congress and Janata Dal (S) managed to gather in Karnataka — another for them forge a pre-poll alliance in Maharashtra.

Aasbe said the Karnataka Assembly election results will further help the Congress and NCP cement ties for polls in the state. “After looking at these results, both parties will ensure an alliance in Maharashtra as they are now fully aware of the BJP’s strength.”

The state’s Congress president, Ashok Chavan, said to fight the BJP, division of secular votes has to avoided. “Definitely, a coalition has its limitations, but we had a coalition with the NCP for more than 15 years, except in 2014,” Chavan said. “Our coalition will definitely bring good results in the state,” he said, and added that talks with of an alliance with the NCP was moving in the right direction.

The NCP’s chief spokesperson Nawab Malik also said both Congress and NCP did not want votes to be divided. “While the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the Karnataka polls, division of votes has come as a major factor for its better performance than others,” Malik said. “Now, both Congress-NCP will certainly make sure a pre-poll alliance becomes a reality. The Karnataka elections have also made way for the Janata Dal (Secular) to become a part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the 2019 general elections, which will increase its strength,” Malik said.

Both the Congress and NCP are contesting May 28 Lok Sabha bye-elections together.

Shiv Sena, others raise suspicion over EVM

With Karnataka Assembly elections done, the debate over authenticity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) has again once again got a push with political parties demanding that the ballot paper system should be brought back. Shiv Sena even challenged its ally to contest elections without EVMs to clear the air. Reacting to the Karnataka poll results, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said, “The election results were considered according to the current situation across the country. However, results that have come today are different. There are allegations made by Opposition parties over EVM manipulations as well. Just one time, I want the BJP to head into elections with ballot papers and not EVMs. Let all the apprehensions go.”

Earlier, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray alleged that the EVMs had been tampered with. In tweets in English and Marathi, Raj said, “Karnataka elections. Victory of the EVMs.”

The NCP too demanded that once for and all, BJP should conduct Lok Sabha elections through ballot paper system to clear all the apprehensions.

“At grassroot levels, there was lot of sympathy for Congress based on the work done by its government in the last five years. I am surprised with the Karnataka results. In fact, lots of people are also blaming EVM for this result. If people feel there is something fishy about EVM that can be manipulated, then there is no harm in bringing back ballot paper system back,” Patil said.