Emboldened by the feelers of support received from the Opposition Congress and NCP, the Shiv Sena on Friday strengthened its bargaining position ahead of its power-sharing negotiations with the BJP, through a calibrated attack on its senior saffron ally in a Sena mouth-piece editorial with effective use of a telling cartoon.
On a day when Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat went to town saying that his party would consider seriously any proposal received from the Shiv Sena for the formation of a new Government in the State, the Sena — in an editorial published in Saamana — indirectly distanced itself from the BJP’s “arrogance of power” and the manner in which it “broke the NCP” through poaching of its leaders.
In the same editorial, the Sena heaped praise on the NCP for the manner in which it bounced back and reaped maximum electoral benefit in Maharashtra, by winning more than 50 seats in the State Assembly polls. The Sena also indirectly complimented the Congress for winning 44 seats even without a leader.
Interestingly, the Sena dubbed the Assembly results as “Janadesh” (mandate) and not “Maha Janadesh” (grand mandate), an indirect dig at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who had taken out a Statewide “Maha Janadesh Yatra” ahead of the polls, in which the strength of the BJP had fallen from the 2014 figure of 122 to 105 (not 102 as mentioned in the editorial) and the Sena’s figures had down from 63 to 54.
“In effect, the poll outcome has shown that political parties can ill-afford to be over-smart and do unbecoming things using power. Using arrogance of power, you cannot finish anyone permanently in politics,” the Saamana editorial said, taking a dig at the BJP.
A maverick that he is, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut took to twitter to give a new spin to the political situation in the State. On his twitter handle, he posted a cartoon that showed a tiger (as the Shiv Sena is known) wearing a clock locket (NCP’s party symbol) and sniffing a lotus (BJP’s party symbol) from its hand with a terse comment: “This is cartoonist’s marvel. “Bura na maano Diwali hai”.
Though he claimed that he had posted the cartoon in jest, Raut indirectly sent a message across to the BJP that it indeed had more suitors than its long-term ally.
Through digs at the BJP and efforts to cosy up to both the NCP and the Congress in its editorial and the telling cartoon, the Sena made it clear to the BJP that it would not settle down for breadcrumbs as it did after the 2014 Assembly polls. This time around it wanted its pound of flesh in the form of 50:50 power-sharing arrangement.
Though it has so far not made it clear in public what is 50:50 power sharing arrangement, the Sena is seeking the Chief Minister’s post on a rotational basis and it is seeking plum portfolios like Home, Revenue and PWD which the BJP had kept with itself during the last five years. Incidentally, when the Sena-BJP alliance ruled the State between 1995 and 1999, late BJP leader Gopinath Munde was the State Home Minister, while the Shiv Sena’s Manohar Joshi and (briefly) Narayan Rane were the Chief Ministers.
In a related development, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has called a meeting of newly elected MLAs at his Matoshri residence on Saturday at noon.
Sources in the Sena said at that meeting, Uddhav will seek the opinion of his party’s new legislators whether the party should pitch strongly for the Chief Minister’s post and what it should do if the BJP’s refuses to yield.
“There is strong mood among the newly elected Shiv Sena MLAs that the party should go whole-hog for the Chief Minister’s post. In the event of the BJP refusing to yield, the Sena should look at other avenues before it to achieve its objectives,” a senior Sena leader said.
Meanwhile, in its editorial, the Sena mouth-piece said the people had rejected the BJP’s thinking that elections could be won by engineering defections and splitting Opposition parties. “People have also taught a lesson to the political turncoats,” the editorial said, alluding to large-scale desertions from the NCP-Congress to the ruling camp.
On the shocking bypoll defeat of Udayanraje Bhosale, who had switched over to the BJP after winning the Satara Lok Sabha seat on NCP ticket in May, the Saamana editorial said, “The Satara “gaddi” (seat of power) has respect because of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The people of Satara have shown they will not allow political opportunism in the name of Shivaji Maharaj.”
“This is a personal defeat of Bhosale, a direct descendant of the legendary 17th century Maratha warrior king,” the Sena said.
The editorial wondered how the NCP-Congress got so many seats despite the BJP and the Shiv Sena firming up a pre-poll alliance. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed several rallies on Article 370. Modi addressed a rally in Satara for Udayanraje. Chief Minister Fadnavis declared that since Udayanraje is now in the BJP, Chhatrapati Shivaji’s blessings are with the BJP. Still Satara defeated Udayanraje,” it said.
Holding that Pawar proved more powerful than the BJP Chief Minister, the Sena mouth-piece said: “There is a lesson to be learnt from this defeat (in Satara, where the NCP won). Fadnavis said he was a powerful wrestler but Sharad Pawar proved he was more powerful”.
“Maharashtra doesn’t accept arrogance of power. Our feet were always on the ground and will remain so. Now that the elections are over, we are back to serve the people of Maharashtra. Let’s do analysis of poll outcome later. The election results have proved that no party can move ahead by hurting the sentiments of the people. Chhatrapati Shivaji was known for keeping the promises he made. Maharashtra will run on the inspiration of Shivaji,” the editorial said.