Why Shiv Sena is wary of BJP over the issue of mid-term polls in Maharashtra

Amid the dissent brewing among Shiv Sena legislators and workers over their ministers' inability to take on the BJP, party chief Uddhav Thackeray is focused on finding the answer to the question: Will the BJP opt for mid-term polls? His uneasiness over the thought of facing mid-term elections has grown since BJP president Amit Shah categorically denied the chances of early polls, during his visit to Mumbai between June 16 and 18.

Thackeray is not ready to trust Shah because he thinks the BJP president is trying to keep him in the dark and mislead him, just as he did in 2014 when he snapped ties with the Shiv Sena before the assembly elections. Thackeray's strategy to contain the BJP's growing influence is limited to the issues of farmers.

He has asked the party cadre to beat drums in front of all district cooperative banks on July 10, pressing the government to start the implementation of its widely debated announcement of loan waiver to the farmers. At the same time, he has been meeting protesters who are opposing land acquisition for the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Way, popularly known as Samruddhi Corridor.

"Uddhavji believes that the BJP's winning march could be stopped in rural areas only," says a close aid of Thackeray. The aid claims Thackeray believes that the BJP could be cornered if the Shiv Sena mobilises farmers against it. "His only problem is that he reacts very late. Many times he speaks up only when the issue loses its relevance."

All is not well inside his party as well. At least 10 out of 63 MLAs have opened a front against four senior ministers - Subhash Desai, Diwakar Raote, Ramdas Kadam and Deepak Sawant - for acting like the "puppets of BJP".

The legislators believe that they are only enjoying the ministerial perks instead of helping the party grow. Thackeray has given Shiv Sena workers a free hand to rant against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When Shiv Sena councillors chanted "chor, chor" (thief, thief) countering the BJP councillors' shouts of "Modi, Modi" at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on July 4, Thackeray, who was present at the venue, had a smile on his face.

He did not try to stop them. On the contrary, he blasted at the BJP through an editorial in Saamna, saying that the BJP should not forget that even Indira Gandhi was defeated after she had won a war against Pakistan in 1971. Meanwhile, the BJP has caught Thackeray in an awkward position by forcing him to support its candidate Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential election. Thackeray believes that it is his turn to repay. It will be interesting to see whether he will be able to do it.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

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