The race to the Maharashtra assembly elections has seen quite a few upheavals with the break up of the Sena-BJP alliance as well as the alliance between the NCP and Congress. But here are six reasons that indicate that the political alliances in the state may still be intact:
1. In a clear indication that they would continue as usual, Shiv Sena allowed Anant Geete, its lone MP from the Narendra Modi cabinet, to continue as the Minister of Heavy Industries in the union cabinet. This after party chief Uddhav Thackeray had hastily announced that Geete would resign as soon as Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned from the US tour.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to say a word against Sena in his two-day Maharashtra tour, ostensibly as a mark of respect towards late Bal Thackeray. The same Modi hadn't attended Thackeray's funeral. Sena leaders too, have been targeting other leaders in the BJP, but not Modi. Sena's prime target seems to be BJP national president Amit Shah, but even he isn't being attacked openly as the party fears a backlash.
3. If the Sena's Saamana editorials are read closely, you will find that they aren't as critical or abusive towards BJP. Even the editorial immediately after the alliance broke, was mild by the standards of the Sena mouthpiece. It hardly mentioned anyone from the BJP and the attack, at best, was veiled.
4. Ditto with the Congress-NCP. The only barbs were aimed at Ajit Pawar and Prithviraj Chavan, who took potshots at each other even when they were in the government. Neither of the parties have attacked each other's policies, which indicates that they might shake hands if they feel they are within striking distance of forming the government.
5. Neither the Sena-BJP, nor the Congress-NCP have broken their alliances at places where they are in power with help from each other. If the differences were indeed sharp, all ties would have been severed by now.
6. Finally, the leaders from all parties have spilled the beans on some occasions. For instance, Nitin Gadkari said that the BJP would join hands with the Sena again if need be, to form the government in Maharashtra. Similarly, Chhagan Bhujbal, too, said his party wouldn't mind joining hands with the Congress to form the government, except that they did not want Prithviraj Chavan to lead.
The clashes between Sena and BJP seem to be over Amit Shah and between the Congress and NCP they seem to be over Prithviraj Chavan and Ajit Pawar. However, it still appears that all love is not lost between the parties and each still has a toe inside the door for future collaborations.
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