Maha BJP ups ante, says party workers in favour of ending seat-sharing talks with Shiv Sena
Upset over the Shiv Sena’s latest efforts to “demean” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Maharashtra BJP on Sunday hardened its stand on continuing its alliance with the Sena and said that its party cadres wanted the party to end its seat-sharing talks with its long-time saffron alliance partner and contest the October 15 Assembly polls on its own strength.
A day after Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said about lack of Modi wave in some States and said that his party had contributed as much to the saffron alliance’s victory in Maharashtra as the Modi factor, a peeved Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said: “The comments (by Uddhav) demean Modi. Our party workers are extremely unhappy about this kind of a statement coming from the Sena president. And this is not for the first time that the Sena leaders are making such statements against our leader”
“Our party cadres want the party to end the ongoing seat-sharing negotiations for the State Assembly with the Sena forthwith. ...I am reflecting the views of the party cadres at the grassroot level. I am sure that the party leadership will heed the sentiments of the cadres and call off the talks with the Sena.” Bhandari said.
Bhandari said that his statement was very in much line with the stand taken by BJP’s national president Amit Shah who had said during his recent visit to Mumbai that the next Government in Maharashtra would be formed under the BJP’s leadership.
In another related development, senior BJP leader-in-charge of party’s affairs in Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy strong disapproved Uddhav’s remarks and virtually rejected the latter’s claims for the chief minister’s post.
A day after Uddhav, in an interaction with a television channel, projected himself as the chief ministerial candidate and the party as the senior alliance partner to the BJP in Maharashtra,
Rudy said: “It is desirable for us to refrain from making such statements prior to elections and talks...... This issue (the post of chief minister) will be decided after the elections,” Rudy said.
That the BJP has not climbed down on its demand for a bigger share of seats than the 119 seats ( out of a total 288 seats in the state) that it had contested in the 2009 Assembly polls was evident from a statement by Rudy who told media persons in Puine: “.. After allotting equal share of seats from our respective quotas to our alliance partners in the Maha-Yuti, we expect to contest to 135 seats ( out of a total 288 seats in the state) leaving equal number of seats to the Shiv Sena”.
On its part, the Shiv Sena has repeatedly made it clear that it is not ready to dump the formula for the State Assembly polls -- worked out by late senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan and late Sena chief Bal Thackeray – that the Sena would contest 171 seats, leaving the remaining 117 seats to the BJP (The Sena says that the 2009 Assembly polls were an exception since it had given away two more to the BJP upon a special request from its alliance partner).
When asked if the Shiv Sena would accept the BJP’s 135:135 seat-sharing formula being mooted by his party, Rudy said: “Why do you speculate on this. There is no plan A or B. We are awaiting their response from the Sena".
However, on its part, the Shiv Sena dismissed Bhandari’s statement that the State BJP cadres were so miffed with Uddhav’s comments against Modi that they were rooting for the party to end its seat-sharing negotiation with the Sena.
When contacted by “The Pioneer”, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said “Who is Bhandari to talk about our party president’s remarksIJ If the BJP has an issue with the remarks, then its national president Amit Shah should speak about it and not Bhandari. I have nothing to say about Bhandari statement.... All I can is that the talks are going on between the Sena and BJP as before”.
Informed sources in the BJP, meanwhile, said that there were some sections within the party that wanted the party to snap its ties with the Sena and go it alone in the Assembly polls so as to make the most of the prevailing mood in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state.
Apart from its eagerness to get a bigger share of seats from a rigid Shiv Sena, what has prompted the Maharashtra BJP to hit out at Uddhav is a remarks made by Uddhav at a programme hosted by a leading national television channel on Saturday.
Among other things, Uddhav made no bones about his readiness to take up the chief minister’s post. “like others do, I do not day dream or hanker for the chief minister’s post. But, I am not the one to shy away from taking up the responsibility. Many expressed doubts about the fate of the Shiv Sena after Balasaheb. But, I accepted the responsibility and I am leading the party.. That’s why I am saying that I am not the one to shy away from shouldering the responsibility”.
In another equally significant statement, Uddhav remarked: “During the lok Sabha polls, people in the country wanted a change. They wanted a new face who represented change in the country. The change came in the form of Narendrabhai. The people accepted Narendrabhai. Now, it is the turn of Maharashtra. People here want a change. They want a face to vote”.
Asked if he wanted to be the face that represented change in Maharashtra, Uddhav said: “Why not. Ultimately, it is people who are looking for a change”.
Asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would campaign for the saffron alliance in the Assembly polls, Uddhav said in a statement that has miffed the BJP to no end: “ “Modi is our Prime Minister. He is our national leader. We campaigned for him in the lok Sabha polls. After all he is the leader of the saffron alliance, He is not an enemy. Nor he is Nwaz Sharif. If the Sena-BJP alliance performed exceedingly well it was because both the parties worked hard for the victory. If you want to talk about the existence of a wave in the lok Sabha polls. Why was there no such ( Modi) wave in states like Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Orrissa and West BengalIJ If the Modi factor worked in Maharashtra, it was because our image was good and we (Sena) worked the success”.
Uddhav also said that the Sena was indeed the senior partner in the saffron alliance in the Assembly polls. “As far as Assembly polls are concerned, the BJP will contest whatever that the Sena aside to it”.
Uddhav, however, hoped that the seat-sharing negotiations would fructify in the coming weeks. “Our alliance is on for the last 25 years. Ours is the only example where an alliance between the two parties has lasted for such a long time... But, all of us should know limits when we speak. If we follow such a policy, we will not face any impediments,” the Sena president, referring to the tension currently prevailing between the two saffron alliance partner over the seat-sharing for the Assembly polls.