The Shiv Sena on Tuesday sharpened its anti-BJP rhetoric and dropped hints of pulling out of the alliance government in Maharashtra in anticipation of Sena chief Uddhav Thackrey’s bête noire Narayan Rane joining the BJP.

Another factor leading to Sena’s sharp criticism over the past week — of demonetisation, GST implementation as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much publicised bullet train inauguration — is the expected Cabinet reshuffle.

Besides preventing Rane, a former Sena stalwart who is currently with the Congress and has the potential to damage his former party and boss, from becoming a Cabinet minister, Sena’s manoeuvres are also aimed at adding more powerful portfolios during the reshuffle.

In this backdrop, a meeting of the Sena MLAs was held in the party chief’s residence on Monday.

After the meeting, Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said that his party has “come very close to a decision” and that Uddhavji would “announce it soon”. “Soon”, in Sena’s parlance, is widely believed to on Dussehra, when Sena customarily holds a rally. However, both BJP and Sena insiders believe that the threat to pull out of the government is merely a pressure tactic to keep Rane out and gain more clout in the Cabinet. The Sena has 63 MLAs and the BJP 122 in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. If the Sena pulls out, the BJP can align with the NCP, which has 41 seats, to reach the half-way mark of 145.

Meanwhile, Rane, who has been unhappy with the Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan, has indicated that he would join the BJP within this week.

Rane’s announcement has been followed by a sharp attack by the Sena on the BJP. After labelling the PM’s bullet train venture an “indulgence for the rich”, the Sena on Tuesday criticised demonetisation and said the Centre would be better advised to focus on basic questions instead of “using chloroform on people” and diverting their attention.

“According to the RBI, 99 per cent of the demonetised currency came back into the system. Out of ₹15.44 lakh crore in the market, the RBI received ₹15.28 lakh crore, indicating that demonetisation was a failure,” said an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Tuesday

‘Chloroform on people’

“In order to divert peoples’ attention, the government spoke about a spike in cashless transactions and a shift towards digital economy. But the truth was that people were forced to go cashless then as there was no currency in circulation,” it said.

Instead of “using chloroform on people” the government should focus on addressing basic issues, it added.

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Published on September 19, 2017