How Shiv Sena's Sunday shuffle unfolded
It was Sunday that dealt a further blow to the already delicate Shiv Sena-BJP relationship. Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted former Sena MP Suresh Prabhu into his cabinet, the banker-politician quit his parent party to join the BJP. Uddhav Thackeray’s opposition to Prabhu’s induction fell on deaf ears as the PM went ahead with hand picking the former MP to entrust him with the leadership of the key railways ministry.
Earlier in the day, Sena MP Anil Desai, who was reportedly on the list for a ministerial berth, had to rush to catch a return flight to Mumbai, on orders from Matoshree, only a few hours before the swearing-in. The Shiv Sena, this morning, decided to give the swearing-in a miss. The boycott came as yet another very public confirmation of the rift between the BJP and the Sena. On Saturday, Thackeray summoned Anant Geete to Mumbai after the union minister was reportedly refused a meeting with the PM. The party was allegedly unhappy with the proposed ministry for Desai, especially after the “light weight” ministry that was offered to Geete.
Suresh Prabhu’s induction into the Cabinet further irked the Sena. The former minister had maintained a low profile in the party’s affairs and had distanced himself from the party since his defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. A four-time Member of Parliament from Rajapur in Maharashtra, Prabhu had held key portfolios in the NDA government as minister for power, industry, Environment and Forests and Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises. Once known to be the blue-eyed boy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prabhu is known to be close to Modi as well. Even without an official position in the government until now, the PM had entrusted him with the responsibility of spearheading India’s role in the upcoming G20 summit. In 2013, when the Wharton India Economic Forum cancelled Modi’s keynote address, Prabhu, who was also supposed to be a speaker at the summit, refused to go. This gesture reportedly further cemented the bond between him and Modi. With Prabhu distancing himself from the Sena, Thackeray openly voiced his opposition to his induction into the Modi Cabinet. That the PM went ahead with Prabhu added further cracks to the Sena-BJP relationship.
The former allies have been at loggerheads for the past few months. The cracks in the relationship came to the fore soon after the Lok Sabha elections, when the party expressed disapproval at a “light weight ministry” for its sole minister in the Union Cabinet.
The battle of the allies reached its peak during the seat sharing talks for the Maharashtra Assembly elections in October this year. Ego tussles and a lack of desire to contest together saw the allies call of their two decade-old relationship. Sharp attacks from the Sena on BJP leaders, including the PM, further worsened ties. Even after the results, the parties couldn’t come together to form the government.
The face-off continues. Both parties are playing tough with each other. Unwilling to give in to the Sena’s demands for the deputy chief minister’s post and a sizeable number of cabinet berths, the BJP went ahead with swearing in its chief minister and his cabinet last week. A possible reconciliation doesn’t hold much hope for the Sena now. The BJP has already allotted key ministries to its people. Be it finance, revenue, industries or public works, the so-called keydepartments are already taken by senior BJP leaders, leaving the so-called light weight options for the Sena.
Certain reports said that the Sena even wanted to team up with the NCP to pose a challenge to the Devendra Fadnavis government during the trust vote, a suggestion that was reportedly turned down by Sharad Pawar.
With only a few hours left for the first special session of the newly elected Maharashtra Assembly, all eyes are on the Sena to see if they will nominate a Leader of Opposition, as threatened, or wait for a happy reconciliation.