Sena, BJP ties at breaking point?
The already frayed SenaBJP ties could well be at breaking point. The last nail in the coffin could be the trust vote where the Sena abstanined from voting shattering the BJP’s hopes of showcasing a “united NDA”. That the Sena chose to do so after assuring BJP chief Amit Shah that they would vote against the motion has left the BJP angry and embarrassed. Sena mouthpiece Saamana’s unabashed praise for Rahul Gandhi after his performance in Parliament during the notrust motion on Friday has added to BJP’s deep resentment.
With pressure mounting from the Maharashtra state unit to do a PDP on the Sena, BJP president Amit Shah will be reaching Mumbai on Sunday to hold parleys with the state BJP leaders. Apart from discussions on the Lok Sabha polls, the Sena issue is certain to feature high on the agenda. The moment of Mr Gandhi hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the floor of the House was highlighted on the front page of Saamana with headline in Marathi — Bhawa Jinkalas, which roughly translates to “Brother, you stole the show”. The Saamana went on to draw a parallel between the Fifa World Cup final and the the no trust motion. “The PM have emerged victorious like France but the
Congress president won many hearts like the runners- up Croatia,” the Sena said.
Apprehending that Sena could also take the first step to snap ties with the BJP before the general elections, the saffron high command has asked its cadre to work on each of the 48 parliamentary constituencies in the state.
Sources disclosed that the Sena supporters and functionaries were upset with the party leadership for agreeing to “help BJP during the notrust move”, even though it has decided to go solo in the Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, Mr Shah had spoken to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who had assured BJP of its support. After the call, Sena even issued a whip to its MPs to be present in the House. Fearing that Sena’s credibility would be damaged, the party high command simply dumped the BJP and chose to remain neutral and withdrew the whip.
Ties between the BJP and Sena have been fraught ever since BJP replaced Sena as the senior partner in the state. Despite its relentless attacks on the BJP, Sena continues to share power with the BJP both in Centre and Maharashtra.