One year on, Shiv Sena-BJP acrimony pushes allies further apart in Maharashtra

The swearing in of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra was a major political landmark, being the first BJP-led government in the state. However, one year into its term, its relationship with ally Shiv Sena appears to be turning increasingly bitter, with the chief minister now openly hitting out at the party.

Hindustan Times reported that Fadnavis, in a rally ahead of the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls, said that merely protesting at public squares, or conducting programmes ‘is not nationalism’. Fadnavis was quoted as saying, “The Indian flag can fly in Kashmir because of our fathers’ sacrifices, and they teach us sacrifice?” While he referred to the Sena as a ‘friend’, he asked ‘what good have they done for Kalyan?’ and alleged that their party workers are involved in illegal constructions.

Fadnavis’ statements come in the context of a series of conflicts between the two saffron parties who are running the government in Maharashtra. However, even as he has hit out at the Sena ahead of the civic elections, he was quoted as saying by the The Economic Times that the alliance would last for five years and even that the two parties will contest the 2017 municipal elections in Mumbai together.

Merely days earlier, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had said that although the party is in power, the government is not theirs and that they are not part of the decision-making process, PTI reported. Raut was also quoted as saying that if elections were to be held now, the Sena would get a complete majority and the chief minister would be from the party.

Recently, Raut had written an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana, launching an attack on the BJP on several fronts, including rising prices of dal, controversial statements by ministers and the BJP’s alliance with the PDP in Kashmir. Earlier reacting to Fadnavis’ criticism of the Sena’s attack on former BJP ideologue Sudheendra Kulkarni, the Sena said that if the BJP had a problem with its ‘nationalist approach,’ it should quit the government, as per a report in The Hindu.

Earlier this week, the Shiv Sena and the BJP also sparred over poll advertisements for the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls, with the former alleging that the BJP had committed a copyright infringement by adding a different voiceover to its own advertisement. Even an open-air gymnasium inaugurated by Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray had to two parties sparring, with the BJP claiming that it was an obstruction for pedestrians and that it was ‘obscene’, as reported by DNA .

With four years remaining until the completion of their term, it remains to be seen whether the BJP can keep ties with its oldest ally intact.