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The talk of possible post-poll alliances by leaders has left the rank and file of political parties confused. All major political parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – are going solo in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The Congress and NCP broke their 15-year alliance to independently fight the election to the 288-member Assembly. Similarly, the BJP severed its 25-year ties with the Sena. Further, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is going solo making the fight five-cornered. The polling is slated for October 15 and results will be announced on October 19.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari, a frontrunner for the chief minister's post, was the first to announce that his party might ally with the Sena after the Assembly polls, if it fails to muster adequate numbers to form the government. ''If the situation arises, we can certainly think of that. The Shiv Sena has been our ally, bound together by Hindutva ideology," Gadkari had said last week.
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However, there has not been any formal statement from the state BJP unit either supporting or opposing Gadkari's stand. Prakash Javadekar, the minister of state for information and broadcasting, insisted that the BJP would get a majority.
However, Sena leader Sanjay Raut ruled out any post-poll tie-up with the estranged partner in case of fractured mandate. He criticised the BJP for backstabbing and added that the sentiment within his party now is that it should not share power with the BJP in future.
The NCP, which had ended the alliance with the Congress, said it would cross the magic figure of 144 seats. However, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, hailing from the politically influential other backward class (OBC) community, said his party might tie up with the Congress if required. But he said the Congress will have to have change Prithviraj Chavan as its leader. This is important, as the NCP and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had held Chavan responsible for the split in the alliance. The NCP state unit is yet to respond to Bhujbal's statement.
Interestingly, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Manikrao Thakre ruled out the possibility of any post-poll alliance between the Congress and NCP.'' It is a good thing that the NCP has separated from the Congress. There has been quite a favourable situation for the Congress to get the majority,'' he added.
