)
After its initial roar, the usually tiger-faced Shiv Sena shed its stripes on Tuesday and mellowed its tone to a purr. The Sena, which is perturbed over its electoral ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s moves to lure Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray, however, said it had no plan to sever its 25-year-old alliance with the BJP as they shared the common ideology of Hindutva. Together, the alliance would also be strong enough to take on the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine in Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha polls.
However, the Shiv Sena asked the BJP to clarify who its pointsperson in Maharashtra was.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, at a hurriedly convened meeting with party leaders, MPs and legislators, took a swipe at BJP former president Nitin Gadkari’s move to meet Raj Thackeray last week, asking him to abstain in the Lok Sabha polls to avoid division in the anti-Congress votes and extend his support to Narendra Modi to become prime minister.
Although Raj has turned down Gadkari’s proposal not to field candidates by announcing the first list of seven nominees, he announced that after being elected to the Lok Sabha, his party MPs would support Modi to assume the office of prime minister. But the Shiv Sena was disturbed over Raj Thackeray’s announcement to oppose Sena candidates by pitting six of the seven nominees against Sena nominees in Maharashtra.
“Is it like the Aam Aadmi Party, which opposed the Congress and assumed power on its support after the elections? The BJP should clarify what is the difference between MNS and Shiv Sena,” said Uddhav.
Furthermore, Uddhav reminded the BJP that the Shiv Sena had helped the BJP when it passed through a bad patch. He thereby sent out a clear message that the BJP should not sideline the Shiv Sena, which was making all efforts to recover and revive after the demise of its founder Bal Thackeray in November 2012.
Earlier, state BJP chief Devendra Fadanvis met Uddhav early on Tuesday morning to pacify him. “I conveyed to Uddhavji that the BJP considers the Sena its natural and trusted ally,” Fadnavis said after the meeting.
“BJP cadres will work only for Mahayuti (the five-party grand opposition alliance led by the Sena and the BJP),” Fadnavis said.
Subsequently, BJP in-charge of Maharashtra, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, spoke to Uddhav, assuring that the alliance was intact. Rudy reiterated the point when he met Uddhav in the evening.
Meanwhile, an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Tuesday said, “The alliance between the Shiv Sena and the BJP is the oldest in the country. Nobody needs to worry, it is strong. The BJP and the Shiv Sena came together to strengthen Hindutva.”
