The latest war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena over Hindutva and ‘wasted period in alliance’ may be an indication of a bigger fight between the two former saffron allies
Mumbai The latest war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena over Hindutva and ‘wasted period in alliance’ may be an indication of a bigger fight between the two former saffron allies during the ‘mini assembly’ (local body) polls. Leaders from both the parties and observers believe that the two, who have resolved to not join hands again ever, are set to take on each other in the future. After keeping almost away from the political appearance for more than two months following a spinal surgery, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday took the BJP head on. Addressing party workers on Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s 96th birth anniversary, he said the Sena rotted in the alliance for 25 years. He termed the BJP’s Hindutva hollow and opportunist. He also said that the BJP, which used its local allies to gain and later dumped them, benefited from its alliance with the Sena to a great extent. This evoked a sharp reaction from the BJP, which reminded the Sena that the party had its corporators and MLAs elected in Mumbai even before the latter was born in 1966. Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis produced elections results of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly from 1993, saying almost all the Sena candidates lost their deposits whenever they contested polls there. Fadnavis questioned if the Sena was doubting late Bal Thackeray-endorsed alliance till 2012 and why the Sena was pushed to fourth position in the recent local body polls after snapping ties with the BJP.
No room for reconciliation
According to leaders from both the parties, the tussle is expected to intensify. “Union home minister Amit Shah made it clear at his rally in Pune last month that there would be no reconciliation with the Sena at any cost. He also dared the Sena to fight with them. Thackeray too has clarified that the two parties, which were in the alliance for more than three decades, will not come together. Both the parties are expected to fight against each other in the municipal corporation elections, especially in Mumbai, Thane, and Kalyan-Dombivali,” said a BJP leader requesting anonymity. The two had fought the local body elections separately in 2017 and had collectively won much more seats than the then opposition parties: Congress and Nationalist Congress Party. The difference in the number of seats had narrowed in Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivali. The Sena and the BJP had bagged 84 and 82 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and 52 and 42 seats in the Kalyan-Dombivali civic body respectively. The Sena that was founded on the Marathi ‘manoos’ or sons of the soil agenda in 1966 embraced majoritarian politics in the late 1980s. The use of political Hindutva helped it cultivate right-leaning voters, and the late Sena chief, Bal Thackeray, emerged as a right-wing mascot. With the split, the BJP is using Hindutva as the ammo to fight the Sena.
Prestige battle
“The war is basically for the Mumbai corporation, which is one of the richest civic bodies in Asia with an annual budget of more than Rs. 34,000 crore. The city has the highest number of billionaires in the country and governing it is a matter of prestige for any political party. The Sena has been ruling it for over 25 years and retaining it is more important than having power in hands at the state level. Similarly, the BJP has resolved to use all its might to wrest it from the Sena. If succeeded, the party will also be able to hit the Sena where it hurts the most,” another BJP leader said. The two parties snapped the three-decade-old ties after the Assembly polls in 2019.
