BJP declines to relax Sena stare-down

Emboldened by general and state poll results, and Modi's appeal among voters, party declined former senior ally's face-saving terms

The decision to be prepared to bid farewell to a junior partnership with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra was set in process by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) well before.

In July, after its sterling performance in the Lok Sabha election across the country, including in the state, the BJP had clearly indicated that time had moved on. Strengthening its resolve were a series of pre-assembly poll surveys. Even so, till two days before the final date in September for filing of nominations, the BJP kept the Sena guessing. It had continued its seat sharing negotiations but had also used the three months in between at the grassroots to be ready for going it alone, deploying party members at all 90,400 booths and assigning all 288 constituencies among its Union ministers, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and other seniors.

 

The Sena believed the BJP would finally fall in and agree to contest less. It was caught unawares when BJP formally announced a parting.

As that campaign gathered momentum and Prime Minister Narendra Modi started addressing massive rallies, the disturbed Sena began firing repeated salvoes against him and the BJP, instead of focus-firing at the ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Modi and the NCP added to their irritation by hijacking the Sena idol, Shivaji.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, and the party organ, Saamna, tried hard to remind voters of the contrast between their united ‘Marathi and Maharashtra’ platform versus the BJP’s, support for a separate Vidarbha and alleged attempts to separate the Marathi and Gujarat communities, especially in Mumbai. Modi simply replied that as long as he was PM, the state would remain one.

What did considerably anger the BJP was Uddhav's personal attack on Modi, terming him and the BJP's entire team camping in the State as Afzal Khan ki Sena, an unsubtle comparison to the alien intrusion of the Adil Shahi dynasty's general in medieval times and his vanquishing by Shivaji.

Overall, the BJP simply ignored the Sena’s broadsides and sought votes on Modi's development agenda. Its emergence as the single largest party in the Assembly, with 122 seats, gave it alone the needed strength to stake claim for formation of the government. The NCP’s prompt and unexpected decision to extend support from outside to a BJP government, “for the sake of stability”, bowled the Sena and further boosted the BJP.  As the days passed, there was no signal from the BJP for revival of the alliance. The ice was finally broken around Diwali, with an invite for talks. However, the BJP made clear its firm opposition to the Sena’s asking for the post of deputy chief minister and ministerial berths to about 12 members. Nor would the BJP reject the NCP offer. And, it kept to both stands, all the way till Sunday’s swearing-in at Delhi.