Will hardline Hindutva politics return in Maha?

MNS, BJP ON THE SAME PAGE

MUMBAI: In the run-up to the key urban local body polls in Maharashtra, Raj Thackerayled Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are attempting to bring the hardline Hindutva agenda back on the table which might work to their advantage but at the same time could stir the political pot.

It was in the late 1980s that the state witnessed the emergence of Hindutva politics when Shiv Sena and BJP forged an alliance as the Ram Janmabhoomi issue took centre stage. There was polarisation on communal lines between the late 1980s and 1995-96. In a first, the Sena-BJP government came to power in the 1995 assembly elections.

Over three decades later, the state may see the resurgence of Hindutva.

In his desperate bid to stay relevant in the political arena following a series of electoral reverses, Raj Thackeray in his Gudhi Padwa rally on April 2 raked up the issue of loudspeakers atop mosques. In Thane, he gave an ultimatum to the state to pull down the loudspeakers by May 3, or else, the MNS would take matters into its own hands. BJP supported MNS’s stand with some of its leaders taking part in maha aarti programmes on Hanuman Jayanti which were organised by MNS to protest the use of loudspeakers. Before MNS, the Mumbai BJP had demanded removal of loudspeakers in a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Analysts say there are two motives behind such attempts: First to revive the Hindutva agenda in the state which has not seen polarisation among voters on the lines of religion in the last three decades. Second, to corner Sena and the chief minister who heads the threeparty Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Hindutva test for Sena Ever since Sena ditched it in 2019, BJP has targeted the former for abandoning the Hindutva ideology for the sake of power, which once brought the two parties together in 1989. Raj has now joined the chorus cornering Sena on two counts Hindutva and Marathi manoos. Though MNS has adopted saffron ideology over the past two years, it is not clear yet if he has abandoned his party’s core identity - sons of the soil.

To counter BJP, Sena rebranded its Hindutva, and at the same time, slammed its former partner for using Hindutva to gain power. Time and again, Uddhav has said that Sena has cut ties with BJP and not Hindutva.

However, the incidents in the last three weeks have put Sena in a tight spot. Besides the steps taken by the Uddhav Thackeray government to formulate a pol

icy on loudspeakers, the party announced Sena scion and minister Aaditya Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya in May.

Political analyst Hemant Desai said Sena was on the backfoot. “Sena is merely reacting to the agenda set by MNS and BJP. They copied MNS by organising Hanuman Chalisa recitals and maha aartis in Mumbai and parts of the state. Hindutva might be their core agenda, but it is not seen as forcefully as it was before the MVA came into existence. The limitation could be as they are in power now,” he said.

However, Sena Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sawant dismissed that his party was on the backfoot on the issue. “MNS is working at the behest of BJP, while it [BJP] is attempting to divide people. Hindutva doesn’t mean spreading hatred among people.”

MNS’s revival attempt Raj’s MNS started with the Marathi manoos agenda but veered off to Hindutva on February 23, 2020 - his uncle and Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary. The current situation offers Raj the opportunity to revive his political party.

While BJP can harp on Hindutva to polarise votes, it has limitations on divisive politics in Maharashtra. Desai said Raj could get electoral success this

time as he was expected to get BJP voters’ support as well, which till now was with Sena.

BJP’s power plan

Political observers said BJP tested the Hindutva agenda in the North Kolhapur bypoll earlier this month. In the last leg of the campaign, BJP played the saffron card saying the constituency had always stood for Hindutva and would favour its candidate.

According to information from party leaders, senior functionary Sunil Deodhar (who is in charge of Andhra Pradesh) visited Kolhapur on April 6 to gauage the response of voters to hardline Hindutva sentiments. It was taken up by leader of the opposition Devendra Fadnavis who, in his campaign rallies, stressed the Hindutva agenda. The motive was also to draw traditional Sena voters towards BJP. BJP candidate Satyajeet Kadam, however, lost by over 18,000 votes to Congress’ Jayshree Jadhav but the party got sizeable votes (76,123) against Congress’ 94,717.

Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, “For BJP, Hindutva and development are two core issues and it would never compromise on them. Sena started with Hindutva but it abandoned it for the sake of power.”