Sena & BJP trade barbs, fire at Congress-NCP

Erstwhile alliance partners the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday accused each other of breaking their decades-old alliance. At the same time, both parties were united in their opposition to the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Hours after snapping their ties, both parties started indulging in a blame game.

The Sena said those who had severed the 25-year-old alliance (read BJP leaders) were "enemies of Maharashtra." "Our other (Maha Yuti) alliance parties wanted the Sena-BJP combine to continue. More than that, it was what the 11 crore people of Maharashtra wanted. Those who trampled upon these sentiments are the enemies of Maharashtra. This is an insult to the 105 Marathi martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.

"We made sincere efforts till the end to ensure that the alliance with the BJP and other parties of Maha Yuti remained intact."

The BJP, however, dismissed the Sena's allegation, claiming that it (the Sena) had a clandestine alliance with the NCP. State BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis reminded the Sena it was the BJP which was at the forefront of exposing various scams and corruption cases against NCP ministers. "It is time to find out who had an understanding with the NCP," he added.

Despite all the bad blood, both parties were on the same page in criticising the Congress-NCP government in the state.

The Sena proposes to reach out to voters with an appeal to dislodge the corrupt Congress-NCP government by supporting the cause of the Marathi manoos and Maharashtra's asmita (pride).

The Sena has already launched an advertisement campaign, highlighting late party chief Bal Thackeray's legacy and also his son and party president Uddhav Thackeray's pro-development vision.

On the other hand, the BJP is determined to corner the Congress and NCP on the governance issue. The BJP will appeal to voters to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ''sabka saath sabka vikas'' mantra. It plans to largely focus on the development plank without playing up controversial issues such as Hindutva, love jihad and the Ram Temple.

Modi figures prominently in all BJP posters.

Sena and BJP insiders admit that both parties would make all-out efforts to exploit the charisma of their respective "Hindu Hriday Samrats" Bal Thackeray and Modi, respectively, to get votes.