Why there will be no reunion of BJP and Shiv Sena in near future
An alliance with the Shiv Sena has become a distant dream
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was in a state of shock when he came to know that the party’s chief whip Chandrakant Khaire had issued instructions to its members in the Lok Sabha to support the government on the no-confidence motion on Friday.
The fact is Thackeray had not made his mind whether or not to support the motion. Following his order, Shiv Sena’s 18 MPs did not participate in the debate on the no-trust motion and remained absent from the House on Friday. They did not even sign the attendance register. They were present at the party office in Parliament. It is still not clear whether Khaire issued the instructions on his own, or acting on someone’s order.
Absolutely not. We haven't even signed our attendance: Anandrao Adsul, Lok Sabha MP from Shiv Sena on whether his party will take part in #NoConfidenceMotion debate & voting pic.twitter.com/fKwuRpdY2J
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018
But the lack of coordination in Shiv Sena fetched more embarrassment for it. Thackeray, by preferring to remain absent during the debate on the no-confidence motion, has reiterated his stand to go alone in the next election. Incidentally, the Saamna editorial called the Union government “butcher” on Friday.
If the Shiv Sena members had spoken in support of the government, it would have sent a signal that Thackeray had bowed before the BJP.
If they had supported the motion they would have quit the government, which none of the MPs want right now.
The Shiv Sena has kept equal distance from the BJP and the non-BJP parties.
It is caught in a strange situation where neither the BJP wants it, nor the Opposition. Sources in the Sena blamed the entire incident on somebody’s mischief.
Reacting to Congress president Rahul Gandhi hugging PM Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “This was not a hug, but a shock for Modi.”
He added that more such tremors will be in store for the BJP in future.
A source in the BJP told Mail Today that an alliance with the Shiv Sena has become a distant dream since the latter put forth several “unrealistic” demands.
According to him, Thackeray wants 22 Lok Sabha seats for the Sena and 26 for the BJP. However, he had staked a claim on 153 out of the 288 Assembly seats and on the post of the CM. The BJP looks at Thackeray’s demand as “too much”.
If the Shiv Sena gets 153 seats, the BJP will be left with only 135 seats. It is unacceptable to the BJP as it already has 123 seats. Also, Thackeray’s stake on CM’s post has irked the BJP.
“In any condition, we will not give up our claim on the CM’s post,” the leader said.
The Shiv Sena has maintained its stand that there was suspicion over the mandate of the Modi-led government adding that the mandate was won on the backing of money power, misuse of power and altering of electronic voting machines (EVMs). In a scenario where the minds are corrupted, the re-union of the two parties is unlikely.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)