The current relationship of the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party can perhaps best be described as a case of familiarity breeds contempt.
The current relationship of the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party can perhaps best be described as a case of familiarity breeds contempt.
The BJP and Sena have been allied since the late 1980s, due to their common ideology of Hindutva. But the last few days, where it was widely believed that the Sena might ditch the BJP and tie up with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which in turn would dump the Congress, has raised serious doubts about whether these alliances will actually hold during the elections.
There is a strong belief that the Sena and NCP will covertly ally with each other to improve their respective chances. The Sena is also expected to strike a deal with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to hurt the Congress’s chances.
The BJP might rope in the services of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to improve its chances, while the Congress is likely to use the MNS’s help to divide the Marathi votebank and thus hit the Shiv Sena.
Workers in both the Sena and the BJP say the real problem is that Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and BJP state chief Nitin Gadkari don’t get along with each other. “Thackeray had insisted on holding talks with the BJP’s top leader LK Advani, while the BJP insisted the talks be held with the state chief,” said a senior BJP leader.
A Sena leader complained, “Gadkari is unreasonable at times, which Uddhav cannot stand, unlike general secretary Gopinath Munde who can be flexible when necessary.”
Sena insiders say the bitterness exists because the BJP keeps telling Uddhav that he is not Bal Thackeray and because Uddhav believes the Sena should not bow before the BJP merely because the latter is a national party.
After all, say the Sena sources, without the Sena alliance the BJP would never have gained a political identity in Maharashtra, the Sena believes.
With the memory of the recent spat still fresh, the BJP top leadership is now reconciled to the fact that even if the saffron alliance works in the Lok Sabha polls, the chances of the two parties staying together for the Maharashtra elections in September 2009 are dim.
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