Shiv Sena is not happy even after winning the political who-blinks-first move while BJP is smiling, such has been the political gameplan of the BJP
Devidas Deshpande
After registering a stupendous victory in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election(BMC), the BJP scored yet another ace on its bitterly estranged ally, Shiv Sena as the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the BJP would not contest the Mayoral polls. This move perplexed even the most avid political watchers, left the supporters in a dizzy and made the detractors look like political nobodies. In a single stroke, CM Fadnavis incapacitated the sulking ally in party power games.
Most importantly, he ensured that the BJP’s decision would not appear to its audience as surrender to the Shiv Sena to ensure stability of his government.
“The people of Mumbai voted overwhelmingly for the BJP as they believed in our agenda of transparency in the civic administration. Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party while we were two seats behind them. We did not get the numbers to have a Mayor of our own,” Fadnavis said just 10 minutes before the nomination process ended. He used the word ‘transparency’ almost 20 times during his 12-minute
interaction with the media persons
reinforcing the party’s agenda.
The Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, has 84 corporators in the BMC followed by the BJP with 82
members. In addition, there were enough indications that this shortfall would not mean an easy walk-through for Shiv Sena to the mayoral post, a symbolic win
signifying as to who controlled the
financial capital of the country. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, having seven seats in the 227-member house, had warned that it should not be taken for granted
during the mayor’s election. The BJP had two options—either to have a Mayor by getting help from MNS and independents or sit in the opposition.
The CM also made it clear that the BJP would not contest elections for the post of Deputy Mayor and for the Standing, City Improvement and Education Committees as well as for posts of Chairpersons in the BEST
committee. That was quite surprising. So what was the deal?
“We had the option to justify the faith and trust given to us by the people. We chose the second option,” the CM said. It was like Robert Frost saying, “Two roads diverged in a wood and I-I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference”.
The catch was the announcement made by CM Fadnavis during the same interaction. “The BJP will not sit in the Opposition. We would not support Congress or NCP in any situation. Our corporators will work as the guardians of transparency,” he said. Besides these, he appointed a three-member committee comprising of the retired IAS
officers-Ramanath Jha, Sharad Kale and Gautam Chatterjee-to look into the BMC’s affairs. All these measures will be capped by the appointment of a
Up-Lokayukta for BMC. Moreover, the party lost nothing in the bargain – it will get equal seats in all the committees of the local bodies.
This effectively meant the Shiv Sena’s reign over the cash-rich BMC would not go unchallenged anymore. The days of its having free run in the BMC are over. There is an ‘elder brother’ always
watching its every move, every decision and every act. (The Shiv Sena has
fiercely held on to the concept of elder and younger brother in Maharashtra, a term coined by late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray. The elder brother signifies Shiv Sena, which held more seats in state Assembly while younger brother was BJP. In recent times, the tide has turned and BJP has an upper hand at every level.
Ever since Shiv Sena reluctantly
but helplessly joined the BJP-led Government in the State two and half years ago, it has been sulking time and again. It occupied the space of the Opposition parties by launching the most intense attacks on the BJP Government. It even joined the protest march of Mamata Banerjee in Delhi after the demonetisation in its attempt to oppose BJP. It invited Hardik Patel in its bid to snatch Gujarati voters away from BJP. That all those efforts went in vain is for all to see, but they only showed the extent of estrangement.
By being neither foe nor friend in BMC, CM Fadnavis has exactly replicated the same model sans the
theatrics that Shiv Sena is known for. It has kept its neutrality intact thereby assuring its voters that it is not
abandoning on its stand. It has sent a message to Shiv Sena that it was always ready to pounce on the latter for each of its misadventure. Shiv Sena will have a much more tough time handling such a big opposition in its home ground. It will also ensure the smooth functioning of the State Government as Shiv Sena will not have the guts to create any more nuisance fearing its repercussion in the BMC. And since it would support Shiv Sena for the development works, it would also claim a share in the credit for the same.
The BJP Government needed some respite from the constant tirade by Shiv Sena leaders against it to carry out real work and spread its wings. With this move, the BJP has brought the exact breather that will help it consolidate its new wins all over the state and put it to better use.
Most importantly, this has given a severe jolt to the Congress and NCP, the parties that were dreaming of returning to the political arena even after losing one after the other elections. Both the parties were betting big that the rift between the saffron parties would grow eventually destabilising the State Government. But a single stroke by CM Fadnavis, who is always aware as to who the real enemies are, made them meaningless.
The CM’s announcement came after his meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. This shows that the central leadership of the BJP approves the plan. This was the best possible way to deal with the situation in which BMC had received a fractured verdict with clear defeat of the Congress and NCP.
And it clearly had its effect. All the Shiv Sena Ministers in the cabinet, who boasted of roaming with the resignations ready in their pocket, attended the cabinet meeting the day after. The photos of these ministers mingling with their BJP
colleagues, including CM Fadnavis, during the ritualistic pre-session tea ceremony flashed across TV and mobile screens. The party is relieved, if not happy, that its nominees Vishvanath Mahadeshwar for the Mayor’s post and Hareshwar Worlikar for Deputy Mayor’s post were slated to win.
In nutshell, Shiv Sena is not happy even after winning the political who-blinks-first game while BJP is not unhappy.
