'Sex' And 'Impotency' Have BJP And Shiv Sena at Each Others Throats

NEW DELHI: The tensions that have characterised BJP-Shiv Sena relations ever since the new government came to power burst to the fore with both using sexual terms to attack each other. Shiv Sena in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna wrote, “the demand for sex can lead to divorce...all parties must give up the lust for more seats.” The BJP countered with, “ impotency can also become a cause for divorce.”

The two parties are fighting over the number of seats each will contest in the forthcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. Both are determined to form the government with their respective state leaders in the Chief Ministers chair, for which both need to win the maximum number of seats. But while both the BJP and the Shiv Sena insist that they do not need the other to win Maharashtra, neither is willing to snap the umbilical cord that keeps them united for fear of a split in the votes.

High power drama has of course taken over both the parties, as they attack each other, threaten to pull out, hurl all kinds of accusation in the hope the other would blink first. Both are clear that they will keep the alliance alive with the current posturing of course designed to extract the maximum number of seats from each other. One will of course ‘lose’ in the process with the Shiv Sena demanding 150 of the 288 seats, and the BJP’s Prakash Javadekar warning that the BJP might just go it alone.

BJP president Amit Shah initially set the tone by directing his cadres in the state to work to form the government. The Shiv Sena after protesting has more recently announced that its president Udhav Thackeray will be the chief minister of the alliance if it comes to power. BJP is now accusing the Shiv Sena of “high handedness.”

BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that 18 seats should be given to the smaller parties and the remaining 270 divided equally between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Under this formula the BJP would get 16 more seats to contest than in the last elections, while the Shiv Sena would get 34 less. In the 2009 Assembly polls the BJP had contested 119 seats and the Shiv Sena 169 seats.

This time around the BJP is sensing victory through its Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is not willing to let the opportunity pass. The Shiv Sena is willing to reduce the earlier number to 150 seats but not any more.“We have made it clear that we will not accept anything less than 150 seats,” said Sena MP Sanjay Raut.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Eknath Khadse said, “The CM candidate will be decided after the results. The party which will win more seats will have the right to the post.”

Sources claim that the controversy will be resolved as neither is really willing to snap the alliance at this stage, but one might have to eat humble pie. And while it is true that the two parties always indulge in a certain level of brinkmanship before each election, it is also true that this time the sparring has been worse, and the tensions more real than play.