The elections to the richest municipal body in the country Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is scheduled to be held early next year in February. The Maha Vikas Aghadi and the fissures within the troika of the parties have forced the coalition’s leading party, Shiv Sena, to adopt a new strategy. The Uddhav Thackeray led party has now started serenading BJP for an alliance keeping in view with the ticking clock of the elections.
Sanjay Raut, senior leader, spokesperson and a usual loud mouth of Shiv Sena recently met Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar and had coffee with him. The meeting was sudden and surprised many poll pundits as Raut, had been inexplicably staunch in his criticism of BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the months gone by.
“We may have political and ideological differences, but if we come face-to-face at public functions, we will cordially greet each other. I have had coffee with Shelar openly,” said Raut.
Immediately after the meeting, the media started creating the narrative that reconciliation was on the cards and even asked former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about the same. While Fadnavis didn’t clear the air much, he did remark that there was no enmity between the two parties.
“There was no enmity between BJP and Shiv Sena. We are not enemies. We are facing ideological differences because our friend who got elected along with us left us and held the hands of those against whom they were elected,” remarked Fadnavis.
Shiv Sena has been in rough seas for the last one and a half years. It botched up the coronavirus pandemic response as thousands died in the state while allegations of extortion and hatching alleged terrorist activities with the police force routinely made the national headlines. The miseries were only compounded with the fake BMC vaccine scam.
BJP and its bedrock is formed by RSS and more so in Maharashtra with the headquarters in Nagpur. The relations between several BJP leaders who have risen through the RSS ranks and Shiv Sena workers are still tight despite the animosity after the bitter break-up.
There have been speculations that Sangh could act as a mediator here but until Fadnavis is at the helm of affairs, the proposition of the BJP-Sena alliance seems unfeasible. It might have been possible under BJP leaders like Kirit Somaiya but not certainly under Fadnavis.
Read More: Till the time Fadnavis is in Maharashtra, a BJP-Sena alliance is impossible
Moreover, the fact that the MVA government suspended 12 BJP MLAs from the Maharashtra Assembly for a period of one year will not sit right with Fadnavis. The MLAs, led by Fadnavis as Leader of Opposition on Tuesday (July 6) sat on the steps of the entrance to the Vidhan Sabha holding placards and raising slogans against the CM Uddhav Thackeray.
सभागृहात विरोधकांची दडपशाही म्हणून अभिरूप विधानसभा: विधान भवन मुंबई येथून…. #MonsoonSession https://t.co/va4qBQAcqh
— Devendra Fadnavis (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Dev_Fadnavis) July 6, 2021
Devendra Fadnavis, the experienced campaigner knows the inherent tendencies of Shiv Sena to backstab. While being in power together, Shiv Sena and especially Uddhav Thackeray constantly undermined Fadnavis and often vied for a bigger role in the government. Thus, forget what the partisan media says, there is not going to be a BJP-Sena alliance for the BMC elections.
