Maharashtra Caught in Cat And Mouse Game, as Political Parties Insist 'Ekta Chalo' is The New Mantra

NEW DELHI: The by poll results could not have come at a worse time for the BJP as its Maharashtra ally Shiv Sena has used these to jump into the drivers seat and insist on dictating terms for the forthcoming Assembly elections. The grudging ‘one by one’ increase in the tally is not just insulting but humiliating for the BJP that had swept the state in the Lok Sabha elections less than four months ago and was working to emerge as the big brother in the state.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has decided to fight this particular battle for survival to the finish, clear that his party will contest 151 of the 288 seats in the state. His final offer to the BJP: 119 seats. And that is as far as he can go, he says maintaining, “the big question is whether the alliance with the BJP will survive.” The two parties have been together for 25 years and the differences today are really to do with a clash of personalities, with BJP president Amit Shah and Uddhav Thackeray not particularly the best of friends.

The 151 seats is a climbdown for the Shiv Sena from its earlier insistence of 168, with Thackeray now saying that the 18 seats can be distributed amongst the smaller parties in alliance with it in the state. He said that this was supreme concession his party was making “for the sake of Maharashtra.” The BJP that had earlier made sufficient noises about contesting all the seats in the state to come to power on its own if need be, is now asking for a minimum of 130 seats that the Sena has refused.

It is very clear that in this particular bargain the BJP is currently not in charge of the political vehicle, and goes into a huddle with every comment from Uddhav Thackeray. Party president Amit Shah’s earlier loud declaration that the BJP workers should aim to form the government in Maharashtra has been effectively scuttled by the Sena that has not only claimed the majority of seats in the alliance, but also the post of Chief Minister. Shiv Sena leaders have made it clear that if they win Thackeray will be the CM, an assertion refuted by the BJP state leaders albeit without sufficient muscle.

The BJP does not have a leader that it can project in the state, and this is further weighing against effective bargaining insofar as it is concerned. Gopinath Munde’s untimely death has cost the party dearly, as even while claiming the top post it cannot name a leader to fill it. However, it continues to insist that both parties should contest 135 seats each and face the election as equal partners.

Significantly, all four major parties in Maharashtra are engaging in this cat and mouse game, as they wait for the other to blink. The roles keep changing, the mouse today is the cat tomorrow with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party who were decimated in the parliamentary polls still seeing sufficient colours in their political rainbow to fight for the spoils, and that too bitterly.In this case the NCP riding high on the Congress party’s virtual rout in the parliamentary elections now wants a 50:50 seat share as against the 114 seats it had contested in the last Assembly polls. The Congress at that time had the lion share of 174 seats and is resisting the effort by the NCP now to equate both.

Leaders of both the NCP and the Congress have independently issued ultimatums to each other, giving 24 hours or so to each to agree to their respective demands otherwise face the electorate on their own. A four cornered contest, not to mention the small parties in the fray, would definitely throw open the polls completely with the results becoming any ones guess.

The four parties have to decide within the week with nominations to be filed on September 27. Of course despite the eyeball to eyeball confrontation, there is every reason to expect one or the other will blink. But given the current political situation, this blink could be very costly for the party that concedes ground first particularly in the JP-Shiv Sena face off as both have been projecting themselves as ‘invincible’ political entitities. The blink will give the lie to this claim.