The sentiment from within both the parties is against the alliance. But if poll results from the last four rounds are anything to go by, even the BJP needs a little introspection. According to the data available till now, the BJP has won not more than 25% vote share and not more than 25% seats. According to the cumulative results, the Congress is a close second by winning 20% seats. The BJP has won 1,190 of the 4,704 municipal council seats in the state. The Shiv Sena is a distant fourth in the ranking of BJP, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Sena. It has won 612 municipal council seats till now. The Sena clearly doesn’t hold an upper hand anymore. The alliance will primarily depend on the Sena’s coming to terms with this fact, or its failure to do so. But it can also not be denied that the Sena has traditionally been strong in the municipal corporations of Mumbai and Thane.
“The idea is that the alliance should happen on equitable terms. Shiv Sena will have to come out of the illusion of being the big brother in this alliance. Our ideologies match. We have been together for years. So, there is no question of not going with them. But the alliance will be on our terms,” a senior BJP minister told The Sunday Guardian. BJP Maharashtra president Raosaheb Danve said that the mayoral position should go to the party that has majority seats. During BJP’s Maharashtra State Executive meeting held in Thane this week, the sentiment within the party members was different, though.
“We want the party to give us the scope to fight as many seats as possible. We want us to fight on our own steam. We are committed to bring the BJP to power. We are fired up for the challenge. The bhoomiputra (son of the soil) of Thane is accepting BJP now. The CM has already announced the Thane Metro and Thane Smart City project. The state BJP leadership should help us solve the problems of the local Koli and Agri communities. If we are given the opportunity to fight a large number of seats on our strength, we will make BJP number one in Thane,” said Sandeep Lele, president of Thane city BJP, said.
It is notable that the BJP State Executive was held in Thane after a gap of 25 years. Traditionally, Thane has been the stronghold of the Shiv Sena. On that background, the BJP’s choice of venue was considered to be a political signal of its strength. Many hoardings were put up across the city calling for the BJP to go solo during these elections. From the banners on the streets to the stage set up for the function, messages echoed the party activists’ sentiments.
The sentiment echoed by the party members during the day-long meeting was so strong that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to gently reprimand them. “The soldiers don’t ask who their enemy will be. The decision about alliance will be taken by the party leadership. You have to only trust the leadership and fight the war with all your zeal,” he said.
The BJP has also made it clear that alliance with Shiv Sena will not just be on the basis of “seat-sharing”, but also on the basis of a common agenda.
“I know everybody is curious about the alliance. But don’t worry about it. The talks about it are on with the right persons in the right direction,” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told party members in Thane.
Talking about the differences with the Sena, he said, “We don’t agree with everything that the Sena says. Yes, there are differences, and we don’t deny them. But we are two different parties. We want to run the affairs transparently. We will go in our own direction,” he said.
Meanwhile, all the senior BJP leaders this correspondent spoke to were tight-lipped about the prospects of an alliance with the Sena in the coming municipal corporation elections. A three-member team from each party is involved in talks about the alliance. The final decision on it will be taken by Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray together.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena has launched another attack on the BJP through its party mouthpiece Saamana. It said it has been back-stabbed previously as well. Raising the issue of deaths due to demonetisation and about the persons who will be displaced due to the development projects like Mumbai Metro, the Shiv Sena has asked if the government wants to term every one of them as the “victims of progress”.