Shiv Sena has a habit of taking potshots at its alliance partners thanks to its motormouth Sanjay Raut who simply can’t help himself from commenting on every issue. The BJP had displayed umpteen patience during its alliance with the Sena as the latter despite being an alliance partner often criticised the BJP. Now, its the turn of Sena’s new alliance partner, the Indian National Congress to bear the brunt of Sena’s incessant criticisms as the party has placed the gun on AAP’s shoulder to fire at Congress in the backdrop of Gujarat Municipal elections.
As the BJP won all the six municipal bodies which went to polls in Gujarat, the INC’s absolute drubbing sent shockwaves across the opposition camp especially given the fact that despite the BJP facing decades old anti-incumbency, it managed to improve its seat share. The BJP bagged 486 out of the 576 seats which went to polls with the INC faring poorly and ended up winning only 55 seats.
Surat threw an interesting result as the INC scored a big fat 0 as it failed to win a single seat in the city’s municipal corporation. Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party gained at the expense of the INC as it finally entered Gujarat’s political fray. It is pertinent to note that the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti decided to support AAP and hence the party bagged a few seats in Patidar dominated wards in Surat.
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AAP’s performance has given just the opening that Shiv Sena was looking for to hit out at INC. “Surat is an important municipal corporation and the people have elected AAP as the principal opposition party. The Congress will have to think about it, we all have to think about it,” said Sanjay Raut.
Welcoming AAP’s success in Gujarat, the Shiv Sena MP added, “But why people rejected a big party like the Congress, in Gujarat or in other states, the Congress’s fall in this manner is not in the interest of democracy.”
This is not the first time that the Sena, seemingly elated with the poor performance has taken potshots at its alliance partner. After it was decided that Vijay Rupani would succeed Anandiben Patel as Gujarat CM just few months before the state went to polls, the then alliance partner of the saffron party, Shiv Sena claimed that a ‘cornered’ BJP is threatened by AAP.
Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande back then had claimed, “AAP has started aggressive campaigning and somewhere the BJP seems cornered or feels the threat from them and Hardik Patel. The BJP seems to be under some stress.”
The BJP stomped home in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections by bagging 99 seats out of a possible 182 with all the 33 AAP candidates ended up losing their deposits.
True to its characteristics, Shiv Sena continues to speak and act against its alliance partners. In 2017, it was sending feelers to the INC while it was in an alliance with the BJP and now in 2021, Raut’s statements can be seen as an attempt by the Sena to reach out to Arvind Kejriwal and AAP.
