No love lost, why Shiv Sena and BJP are sticking it out
We all remember the “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” slogan, that the BJP promised in the run-up to the 2014 general elections.
But the truth is far from what it had promised. A classic example of this is what the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena are doing in Maharashtra. They have turned the slogan on its head to “Minimum Governance, Maximum Mind Games”. The Sena and the BJP have been allies for more than two decades in Maharashtra, and in 2014, the Shiv Sena happily surfed the "Modi Tsunami" and joined the NDA government at the Centre.
All the while, each thought the other won because of its charisma and soon began playing "mind games" with each other. The Shiv Sena wanted a few ministerial berths at the Centre, but couldn't extract its pound of flesh. As a result, a lot of drama unfolded during the swearing-in. This is when the games started. During the 2014 Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra, both parties decided to go separate ways to try and prove to each other who among them was the superior. But neither party got a simple majority and to form a government they needed each other again.
Since there was no government in place and to hold fresh election would have meant putting the state and its people under tremendous burden, the NCP decided to lend unconditional outside support to the BJP to bring stability to Maharashtra.
The Sena soon began to get restless realising that it will lose the negotiating power. As the hunger for power got the better of its ego, the Sena joined the BJP government.
The BJP, sensing the Sena's desperation, started putting pressure on it from the word go. What followed is nothing short of a soap opera. Every day you would hear the two parties criticising each other and trying to expose each other’s wrongdoings. The Sena keeps saying two things repeatedly as an answer to why it is a part of the government — that the people in large numbers voted for them, and they are playing the role of the Opposition despite being in the government only for the betterment of the state.
This reasoning makes no sense because people voted for Sena as an individual party and not as a coalition partner. There are voters who believe in individual party stands and it betrayed the same people by turning into allies. Secondly, there is an Opposition in place. So, being a part of the government and trying to work as Opposition does not help because you are not improving governance, you are only putting obstacles in governance. The only argument they keep giving is that the NCP and the Congress too fought the elections separately and are now together again. Yes, they did, but the difference is, whether separate then or together now, they never maligned each other. What the BJP and the Shiv Sena did then and are doing now as well is washing their dirty linen in public. In fact, what they are actually doing is throwing more dirt on each other.
The recent by-elections in Maharashtra are a proof of how unhappy people are with both Sena and BJP. After the by-poll in Palghar, where the allies contested separately, each of them tried to tell the people what they have achieved. While the BJP celebrated its victory, the Sena said it has increased its vote share.
The question is — did the Sena contest the election only to prove that it can increase its vote tally? The answer is, of course, a "no". The Sena claimed during the election that it will win. So, such claims of a "better performance" are nothing but self-consolation.
Interestingly, the drama continues even after the election and they are blaming each other again.
The truth is they are hungry for power and playing mind games to prove that one is better than the other. And in doing so they are holding the people of Maharashtra to ransom.
They have not been able to fulfil the promises they made to the voters in the run-up to the elections.
There are no jobs, farmer suicides are on the rise, demonetisation has failed, fuel prices are at an all-time high and many of their ministers have serious doubts about the party leadership.
It must be noted that this drama and mind games are not limited to Maharashtra cabinet alone. It is on display in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as well where they have been allies for more than two decades now. Mumbai and Mumbaikars have been suffering because of this on-going saga of one-upmanship.
After all this time, the Shiv Sena says it will go alone in all future elections, come what may. The BJP is trying its best to pacify the Sena, but at its own convenience. The Sena will not walk out of the government as it claims that the people voted for it, and while saying so, it is trying to divert attention from the point that people voted for the Sena as an individual party and not as an ally.
But the BJP also needs to answer one pertinent question — why is it continuing an alliance with a party that maligns it every single day? If it doesn't leave you, why don’t you can ask them to go?
Well, the fact is, despite the differences, they have one thing in common which binds them together — the "hunger for power".
So, as long as this hunger exists, the mind games too will continue.