The split in the BJP’s oldest alliance, with the Shiv Sena, is deliberate and the sign of a resurgent BJP’s newfound assertion over its regional partners.
While the apparent cause for the alliance to reach the breaking point is the allocation of seats, sources in the party said the reason really is the growing ambitions of primarily the BJP and a backlash to the same from the Sena.
The BJP believes the alliance’s stupendous success in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was almost entirely due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal among the voters and, hence, it should dictate terms in the Assembly elections as well. The Sena, on the other hand, believes an assertive BJP, led by two Gujarati leaders — Modi and party President Amit Shah — is a threat to its identity in a State which was once ruled by Morarji Desai. For the Sena and Uddhav Thackeray, therefore, this is a fight for their Maharashtrian identity.
Apparently, however, the bickering over the seats is what has caused the two partners to break away. The Sena reportedly wanted to contest 151 seats, while it wanted the BJP to accommodate smaller allies — such as the Republican Party of India (A) of Ramdas Athawale, farmer leader Raju Shetti’s Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Shiv Sangram of Vinayak Mete and Mahadeo Jankar’s Rashtriya Samah Party — from its own kitty of 130 seats.
According to BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the Sena’s “obduracy” was the cause of their rift. “They were being totally unreasonable,” he said.
In this arrangement, the BJP would have had to shell out seats from its own share because if it was to contest 130 seats and the Sena 151, the smaller parties were left with just seven seats to disburse among themselves.
The strain of hard negotiations of the past two weeks was evident on Thursday as the BJP and Sena traded allegations. Significantly, each party was keen to blame the other for breaking the alliance.
Senior Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote alleged that they were kept waiting for over two-and-half hours by the BJP. “The BJP is keen to end this relationship. We had come to discuss the final proposal sent by the Party President. There were differences on only a few seats, but they left the meeting without even caring to inform us,” he said.
Added Eknath Khadse, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly: “Our talks with Sena were revolving around their desire to fight the elections with 151 seats and around the position of Chief Minister in the future Government. It could not go beyond. The seat-sharing arrangement which the Sena wanted would have led to injustice towards BJP and other smaller allies.”
BJP State President Devendra Fadnavis said Uddhav was in the loop. For many days, the BJP was trying to make the Mahayuti (grand alliance) work, but was unsuccessful.
“But doors are open for a possible post-poll alliance. Our friendship is not over,” he added.
Ties with smaller alliesGiven that the final date to file nomination is on September 27, “we have decided to go into the elections in an alliance with smaller parties,” he said.
The BJP leader said the party’s “ultimate aim” is to dislodge the Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra. “The BJP along with smaller parties, will work towards that. The seat-sharing arrangement with these parties would be worked out soon.”