Show of strength could be seen as a beginning of an exercise by BJP to get its flock together before Prez polls
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah break bread with top leaders of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners in the Capital on Monday night, the dinner will showcase an array of their 31 allies across the country.
Invitations for the dinner, being hosted by Shah, have been sent to parties ranging from Mehbooba Mufti's PDP in Jammu and Kashmir to Devanathan Yadav's IMKMK in Tamil Nadu and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra to Sangma's NPP in northeast.
The show of strength, as the third anniversary of Modi government nears, comes ahead of presidential election this summer. With NDA having a clear edge over Opposition, BJP would be counting on each of its allies to support its candidate for the next President. While sources in government said it was unlikely that the issue will be on the menu at the table, the dinner could be seen as a beginning of an exercise by BJP to get its flock together for it.
A party leader said this was the first such meet at this scale since Modi government came to power. Around 50 guests are expected to gather at the sprawling Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, inaugurated last year by the PM. According to the leader, the meeting would display how so many parties, from different regional and social sections, have aligned with BJP and how the party values each of its partners in line with its commitment to 'Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas'.
Shah's gesture, as budget session draws to an end, could also be seen as a message to potential allies, at a time when efforts are on in Opposition circles to unite against the Modi regime.
That the BJP brass wanted the dinner to be a smooth, frictionless affair was apparent when government averted a last-minute hitch, with the party's biggest ally Shiv Sena threatening to pull out of it. After Shiv Sena stepped up pressure on the government to get the ban on its MP Ravindra Gaikwad flying lifted and threatened to boycott the dinner, the Civil Aviation ministry shot off a letter to Air India.
The Shiv Sena, with its 18 Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs, and 63 MLAs in Maharashtra holds 25,893 votes in the presidential college. The relations between BJP and Shiv Sena have been far from smooth. The Sena, which had voted in favour of Congress candidates in the previous two presidential elections — Pratibha Patil in 2007 and Pranab Mukherjee in 2012 — has suggested that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat be named for President this time.
Shiv Sena's behaviour in Lok Sabha with Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had left a bitter taste in Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, the second biggest ally of the BJP. Naidu had tweeted condemning the "unruly behaviour by some MPs in the House". The leaders of the two crucial NDA partners are expected to come face to face over dinner.
Sources in the BJP recalled how former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who headed a fragile coalition, had frequent dinner meetings before and after Parliament sessions. Under Modi, barring the thorny ties with Shiv Sena, the relations with allies have been harmonious.
Besides senior union ministers, the meeting will be attended right from the BJP's oldest ally Akali Dal to the most recent ones, including Om Prakash Rajbhar's SBSP in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP recently swept state elections.
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