One can make out the frustration of Shiv Sena, Uddhav was looking fragile and tired, I actually thought, after Balasaheb’s demise, it’s Uddhav who will look after the party affairs and next in the chair of Supremo…. but never mind, it’s Sanjay Raut who is much smarter and smoothly managing the party, by making Uddhav a puppet in his hands. This party was BJP’s first-born ally, but now Shiv Sena, will contest the national elections and Maharashtra assembly elections in 2019 alone. The Sena is, however, not yet pulling out of the BJP-led governments at the centre or in the state. If it does, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ government in Maharashtra will be in a minority. There is a tug of war but no one is daring to part its way.
Political parties typically align with anyone that allows them to remain in power or retain power. When they align with opposition they give excuse of common minimum program or saving the trouble for citizens from casting another vote. Many a times archrivals become fellow party workers, politics knows no morals. They just aim to retain power by all means. The regional parties are always seen hopping at one to another. One very evident example is Shiv Sena, who is openly supporting Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Post an assembly election to Maharashtra, Uddhav was approached by Congress to form government while NCP was kept in dark. NCP denied supporting such coalition and very conveniently supported BJP. In the meantime, Shiv Sena faced internal revolt due to which Uddhav had no option except to join the BJP government while the demand for Dy. CM by Sena was summarily rejected.
Uddhav is at crossroads with two options. It is true that Shiv Sena is openly supporting Congress whom they were alleging as following appeasement of minorities and is against Hindus. Since 2014, Uddhav and Sanjay Raut developed a blind hate for BJP with whom they are napping for more than 25 years.
Surprisingly, neither BJP prod them away or Shiv Sena pulling its support. Both continue to remain in coalition but behave like sworn enemies. They just bark but have no guts to move out of NDA. The BJP victory in Gujarat has been dismissed entirely by its fractious ally, which has issued fulsome praise for the performance of the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi. The drop in the BJP figures, Sena said, was an indication of Gujarat’s disappointment with the BJP and its development model. The nail-biting counting session eventually saw the BJP win 99 seats in the 182-member assembly — 16 less than their figure in 2012. The Congress gained 19 seats to reach 80. Sena has made its change of stance on Rahul Gandhi clear. It had said that the Gujarat campaign saw him emerge as a leader in his own right and criticised the BJP for failing to acknowledge it.
The Gujarat results happened none of the dreams BJP showed the state and the country had realised. The Sena, which had been at odds with the BJP since forging afresh alliance after the Maharashtra assembly elections of 2014, has recently spoken of pulling out. Elections will have to be held within a year, Aaditya Thackeray, the son of the party chief Uddhav Thackeray has said. The Sena boss’s meetings with NCP chief and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have already triggered speculations of a political realignment. There are chances of Mahagathbandhan (mega coalition) like Bihar.
Now for their jealousy that BJP has grown more powerful than their own party, Sena is ready to sacrifice its ideology and what it stood for, to align with its sworn enemy Congress in its hatred towards BJP. This clearly exposes their discrepancies in their policies. It also reveals that their only aim is victory, not serving the people. By aligning with Congress the entire Hindutva, votes will shift to BJP. Shiv Sena will be a great loser. Just like Communists, SP, and DMK, who lost by aligning with Congress, Shiv Sena also going to lose its credibility.
Shiv Sena, formed in 1966, was the first to pick up the cause of Hindutva. The BJP born 23 years after Shiv Sena, too picked up the same agenda and took it to Hindi belt of northern India to expand. Both partners participated in Babri demolition. The connubial was perfect till 2014. Shiv Sena didn’t like BJP shaking hands with PDP in Kashmir. It looks like the party is convinced that the Hindutva model of theirs, hijacked and monopolised by BJP is failing. For them, let the BJP sink with skeletons while they start afresh. The Shiv Sena has condemned BJP who calls Rahul Gandhi as Pappu and also has come down heavily on BJP for not, since three years, continuing practice of honouring Gandhi family including Indira Gandhi. What binds NCP and Shiv Sena is Marathas and Shivaji. NCP will follow Sena since they have dropped Hindutva . Three of them may put up formidable alliance against BJP in days to come. Though Uddhav want to break up with BJP, most of his MLAs don’t want it. In next election all four will fight separately helping each other at the local level but secretly. SS, INC, NCP will try their best to see that no one will get majority that will open doors for treading. BJP-SS government will continue till next election, but in 2019 polls they may walk their ways.
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