Political tango — on Shiv Sena-BJP ties

Shiv Sena and BJP have shown they can have a relationship even if they can’t have an alliance(संधि)

The only surprise in the Shiv Sena’s decision to go it alone in future elections is the timing. With parliamentary elections more than a year away and in the absence of any political compulsion(विवशता) to reveal(प्रत्यक्ष करना) its hand now, it is not clear what led the Sena to make the announcement. It is public knowledge that the BJP and the Sena, to understate(परदा डालना) the point, are not on the best of terms — even in the Assembly election of 2014, the Sena fought without its erstwhile(भूतपूर्व) ally(मित्र). The truth is that both parties are at a stage in their political life when one can grow in Maharashtra only at the expense of the other. This is no ideological rift(दरार). The Sena, even from the reign(शासन-राज्य) of its founder Bal Thackeray, had sought to expand beyond Marathi chauvinism(अंधराष्ट्रीयता) by embracing(गले मिलना) hardline Hindutva. 

The differences between the two parties were entirely over sharing of seats for the Assembly election, a result of the BJP seeking a larger share than before on the basis of its better performance in the Lok Sabha polls, held just months earlier. If the seat negotiations sowed(बोना) the seeds of the rift, the results of the elections effectively ended any chance of a revival(पुनः प्रवर्तन) of a pre-poll alliance. The Sena, used to being the senior partner in the alliance, finished way behind the BJP in the election, and had to join the Maharashtra government with several bruises(चोटें) to its political ego. As things stand, if the Sena wants an alliance with the BJP in 2019, it can only be as a junior partner. This is unthinkable for Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who is under some pressure to erase the impression that he is not politically as tough as his father, Bal.

All signals from the Sena’s national executive indicate that it sees the BJP more as a rival than as an ally. Mr. Thackeray seems unable to reconcile(समाधान करना) himself to the changed political equations in Maharashtra, as he has vowed

(क़सम खाना) to compete with the BJP for Hindutva votes in other States. The unstated purpose appears to be to hurt the BJP wherever he can, in retaliation(प्रतिशोध) for encroaching(अतिक्रमण) upon the Sena’s space in Maharashtra. But for all the belligerence(भावनाओं) of the Sena, the BJP is unmoved. The national party looks as if it is treating its regional ally as an errant(भटकनेवाला) child.

The BJP does not need the Sena’s support at the Centre; in Maharashtra, where it is short of a majority, it is not asking its partner to leave the government. The BJP tries to wear the attitude of an indulgent(कृपालु) senior partner, one that is reluctant(अनिच्छुक) to act in anger or haste(जल्दी). As for the Sena, it has chosen to refrain(बचना) from attempting to pull down the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra and to stay on in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. In short, the two parties have signalled they can still be in a relationship, if not an alliance. They may fight elections separately, but they can still rule together.