The saffron party also took jibes at opposition parties saying they were "asleep" for the past four years and have now woken up to call a bandh.
Changing combinations of political alliances came to the fore during Monday's nationwide bandh against fuel hike. Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena was seen working shoulder-to-shoulder with Congress and NCP workers, trying to make the bandh a success. However, although an ardent critic of the Fadnavis government, the Shivsena did not participate in the bandh.
Despite launching scathing attacks against the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre for spiralling fuel prices, falling rupee, and agriculture distress, Shiv Sena decided not to take part in this strike after receiving a phone call from BJP's top brass. This is the not the first time that the party has indulged in political flip-flops. Last month, after initial reluctance, Sena rooted for an NDA candidate to the post of deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Turns out, Sena wanted to eat the cake and have it too. Fearing public backlash for not supporting the bandh, it wrote a blistering editorial in it's mouthpiece Saamna, in favour of the cause.
The saffron party also took jibes at opposition parties saying they were "asleep" for the past four years and have now woken up to call a bandh.
Interestingly, when the Opposition was busy holding protests on the roads, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray were seen sharing a laugh at an event in the city.
A BJP minister at the Centre told DNA, "The party is confident about entering into a pre-poll alliance with Shiv Sena for the Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections in Maharashtra. With more allies on board, the party has geared up to win more than 300 seats in the 2019 general elections. Formal talks will be held with the Shiv Sena leadership in due course of time."
As far as MNS is concerned, its decision to participate in Monday's bandh reflects on its desperation to maintain its relevance in the mainstream. Incidentally, both the Congress and the NCP decided to keep MNS at an arm's length and clarified that it won't be a part of the opposition unity to take on BJP.
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