NCP, Sena back off from alliance talks

Restrained but tough talking by junior partners and voices of caution within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena forced their leadership to back off and announce that they had no intention of breaking their alliances with the the Congress and the BJP, respectively.

Over the last few months, there were numerous signs of growing bonhomie between the NCP and the Shiv Sena.

It began with Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal withdrawing of the defamation case he had filed against Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray for his editorial in Saamana, the Sena’s mouthpiece. The culmination was a “secret” meeting between Shiv Sena’s Working President Uddhav Thackeray and NCP President and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Neither Pawar nor Thackeray (Jr) tried to deny that the meeting had taken place. In fact, both made statements that put a question mark over their existing alliances.

However, the president of the state unit of the BJP, Nitin Gadkari, and Congress’ state chief, Manikrao Thakre, held their ground and did some plain-talking. Both made it clear that they were not desperate for the alliance.

Some senior Shiv Sena leaders warned Uddhav Thackeray that speculation about a possible tie-up with the NCP was hurting their credibility as the main opposition party.

“Pawar might ally with us in the Lok Sabha elections as it will help him get more seats. But he will not think twice before dumping us ahead of the Assembly elections, scheduled in the later half of the year,” a leader reportedly told Uddhav Thackeray.

Senior leaders in the NCP who opposed ties with the Sena said the social bases of the two parties clashed.

While the Shiv Sena is largely an other backward classes party, the NCP is predominantly a party of the Maratha community. They warned that a tie-up with the Sena would erode the party’s support base of minorities and Dalits.

Sena General Secretary and a close confidant of Uddhav Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, clearly said: “It is the BJP that is the ally of the Shiv Sena and there can be no question of breaking up the 22-year-old alliance.”

State NCP leaders are saying they will meet Congress leaders on February 26 for seat-sharing talks. A meeting of the Sena’s extended executive committee has also been called on that day.