TWISTS IN THE SENA TALE
JANUARY 23, 2018:
The Shiv Sena, in the party’s national executive meeting, decides to contest all elections without an alliance with the BJP
JUNE:
BJP national president Amit Shah meets Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree, in an attempt to mollify the bickering ally
Time and again, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expresses his confidence that there will be an alliance with the Sena
OCTOBER:
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray announces his Ayodhya visit, taking a hardline Hindutva stand to corner the BJP
NOVEMBER 25:
Thackeray visits Ayodhya. In the run-up to the visit, the party corners the BJP over Ram temple. After Thackeray’s Ayodhya trip, several BJP leaders express happiness over the Sena adopting the Hindu hardline. Over the past few days, the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ has toned down its attack on the Modi government at the Centre. Sena.
“It is in the interest of the party to go with the BJP. There are two reasons. First, to keep the Congress-ncp at bay, and second, despite ground-level presence, the party is not strong in certain regions to go solo. We can demand better in this changed political scenario. However, the decision rests with Uddhavji,” a Sena functionary said.
Sena spokesperson and MP from south Mumbai Arvind Sawant said his party’s performance is not likely to be impacted by anti-bjp votes. “The Shiv Sena did not get carried away with the BJP. On the contrary, because of the Sena, a large number of issues, from farm loan waivers to reservation for Marathas, were resolved. Had the Shiv Sena not taken a stand even this government would not have done it. So people will treat the Sena differently,” he said.
Political analyst Prakash Bal said the relations between the two parties have improved in the past few months and an alliance is on the cards. “The Sena will use this [BJP’S defeat] to extract their pound of flesh when they sit for discussion…the common ground of Hindutva was created for an alliance,” Bal said.
He said the Bjp-led government has failed to get tangible results in terms of better wages for labourers or better prices for farmers’ produce. “Asset creation has happened in the past four years, roads, toilets, houses have been built, but there is no rise in people’s income, be it a daily wage labourer or farmers. That anger is reflected in the voting pattern. The situation is the same in Maharashtra. Asset creation is an output, but what is the outcome? Neither has the Fadnavisgovernment done it, nor has the BJP leadership achieved it at the national level,” Bal said.
According to Sena leaders, they are now expected to step up their efforts in rural areas. “We don’t want political mileage from the agrarian crisis. Uddhavji has already asked party leaders to start work on drought relief. We will continue that,” a Sena leader said.