More articles by

Dnyanesh Jathar
Dnyanesh Jathar

MAHARASHTRA

Decision taken; now Sena looking for a right time to snap ties with BJP

PTI1_20_2018_000153B Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray interact during an event to mark the birth anniversary of Sena Suprimo late Balasaheb Thackeray at State Transport headquarter in Mumbai on Saturday | PTI

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's announcement on Tuesday that his party will contest next Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections 'on its own' and without any alliance is a clear indication that Shiv Sena has firmed up its mind that it does not wish to chain itself with any pre-poll alliance, especially with the BJP and may not hesitate to walk out of the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra. 

Thackeray launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government. He said that PM was more interested in flying kites with foreign dignitaries in Ahmedabad than ensuring that national tri-colour continues to fly high in Jammu and Kashmir. He was also very critical of Union minister Nitin Gadkari who had said that he will not give an inch of land for naval housing projects in South Mumbai. 

Uddhav's announcement is a logical next step to what he said at the time of BMC elections in 2017. While announcing that there will be no alliance with the BJP for BMC polls, Uddhav had also said that his party would not enter into any pre-poll alliance and would focus entirely on coming to power alone on its inbuilt strength. Thus it is quite logical that Sena takes a decision to fight Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections alone. 

Another important point to be understood here is the fact that the proposal to contest elections alone was moved by Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP and editor of the Saamna. 

Raut is now the staunchest anti-BJP face within the BJP. He may be acting to a pre-written script but it certainly means that anti-BJP sentiment has gained an upper hand in the saffron party over the old guard which favours the traditional Sena-BJP alliance. Raut is believed to have told the national executive that Sena could win 25 Lok Sabha seats and 135 assembly seats if it contested on its own 

Does it mean that Shiv Sena will walk out of central and state governments? Not immediately. It simply does not make political sense to walk out of government as  parliamentary election is a year and half away and assembly elections are almost two years away (October-November 2019).  But it certainly is an indication that Sena will keep up its aggressive anti-BJP stand and will launch even more scathing attacks on the BJP. At the same time it will be on the lookout for a right opportunity to walk out of the governments that it is part of. One such opportunity that party may get will be at the time of central and state budgets next month. If the budget is not good for middle class and farmers, then Sena can  take a call about snapping ties totally. All it is waiting for is a right opportunity to trap the BJP and settle the scores. 

Reacting to announcements made at Shiv Sena's national executive, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ,who is in Davos to attend World Economic Forum, said “They have been saying many things. As of now, we are in alliance in the government and this government will complete its term.” 

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.

Related Reading