This refers to the editorial, “Not how an ally behaves” (February 13). The Shiv Sena must be cautious about using intemperate language against its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is wrong of the Shiv Sena to interpret the BJP's defeat in the Delhi Assembly election as a rejection of the Narendra Modi Government. Apparently, the remark comes from the wounded feeling of having been reduced to a junior partner to the BJP following the Assembly election result in Maharashtra.
Bal Thackeray also had differences with the BJP, but his expressions were never meant to offend sentiments. Nonetheless, the BJP has to accept the responsibility for having mismanaged the Delhi scenario. In retrospect, it can be said that the BJP should have formed a minority Government in Delhi in 2013 and taken the floor test that would have effectively exposed the AAP-Congress linkage, without damaging the party's electoral chances in the short run.