BJP vs Sena tug of war till August
The Union Government is forced to bow to the pressure from the Shiv Sena and revoke the ban to fly by Air India or any other private carrier against the Sena Member of Parliament, Ravindra Gaikwad for his shameful unruly behavior on flight on 23rd March. Gaikwad hit an Air India officer with his footwear–25 times–in the aircraft and later boasted about it. Now that the ban is lifted after a fortnight, Gaikwad and Shiv Sainiks across the state are jubilant as for them it’s their ‘victory’ against the Narendra Modi government. Interestingly, the Sena is a part of the same Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. How interesting! On one hand the Sena member Anant Gite shares a seat with the BJP government and on the other hand, makes attempt to physically assault the Civil Aviation Minister Ganapati Raju in the Lok Sabha. Many questions arise due to the incident of indecent violent behaviour of the Sena MP and also the ruckus created by other Sena MPs on the floor of the Lok Sabha that finally culminated in Gite’s most unexpected attack on his cabinet colleague.
There are two moot questions; answers of which would help in understanding the level of politics in India and also the BJP’s policy of succumbing to the high-handed behaviour of the Sena. The first question is why the Sena leadership, after initially expressing its displeasure and shock over Gaikwad's assault, take a U-turn and wholeheartedly stand by the erring MP? Not only did the party leadership protect the MP but the party MPs levelled serious charges against Air India and its employees. Incidentally, the Sena has two nation-wide recognised unions in the government owned corporation. Another question is what made the BJP change its mind and allow the ban on Gaikwad to be revoked after the Sena chaos? Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan appeared to be a mute spectator when more than a dozen Sena MPs were freely disturbing the proceeding of the House. She could have and should have named the erring members and initiated disciplinary action against the unruly MPs. Instead, she saw no logic in the blanket ban on the MP and advised the administration to not stretch the issue beyond the point. Taking the clue, the Civil Aviation Minister promptly sent a message to the Air India Management and by evening the ban was lifted.
It was not a mere coincidence that the Sena MPs on the floor of the Lok Sabha had threatened to disturb Air India flights operating from Mumbai airport. Clearly, it was a statement of strength and Sena's muscle power to which the government bowed in distress. The image of the government that it tolerates ‘no nonsense’ took a beating as it did not stand up to the Sena threat. Is it a fact that the Civil Aviation Ministry is scared of the strength of Sena Unions in Mumbai? Or is there any other reason that has yet not reached the surface?
Moreover, the Sena had also posed a threat to the BJP national leadership that it would boycott the dinner scheduled to be hosted by the Prime Minister to all constituents of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if the ban was not withdrawn till then. It is yet not known whether the Sena is joining the dinner party.
This is not the first time in the near past that the BJP leadership has succumbed to the pressure from the Sena. The BJP fell two seats short of Sena’s tally of 84 in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections last month. As none of the parties were in a position to elect the Mayor on one’s own strength, it was obvious that the Sena should have co-operated with the BJP to forge an alliance. However, the Sena stood firm and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced BJP’s withdrawal from the post of Mayor or any other post in the City Hall and instead decided to play the role of ‘watchdog’. Now it has worked in favour of the Sena MP, though the police investigations are still in progress. However, with the Delhi Police not having initiated any action against Gaikwad even 15 days after it received the official complaint from Air India, the mood of the Union Home Department is loud and clear.
The BJP surely has a hidden agenda behind appeasing the stubborn Sena. The election for the post of President is fast approaching. The BJP with its huge majority in Lok Sabha and many states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra wishes to elect its own man for the top post. To achieve this goal without entering into any compromise with the Congress and its allies, the BJP needs an assured support from within the NDA. The Sena having 18 Lok Sabha members and 63 Assembly members stands tall amongst the constituents or the NDA like Telugu Desam, Akali Dal, Lok Janashakti Party and few others. Therefore, the BJP top leadership would not like to rub the Sena on the wrong side at least till the Presidential elections scheduled for July this year.
If that is the game-plan, the BJP would not continue to take the Sena nonsense beyond August and would surely come down heavily against it. It is not a mere co-incidence that the Maharashtra government has still not appointed the UpLokayukta (Deputy Ombudsman)—the post to look into the complaints about Mumbai till now. Let’s wait and watch till Indian Independence Day!