BackBJP, Shiv Sena smoke peace pipe ahead of local body polls in Maharashtra
The temporary friendship between BJP and Shiv Sena does not guarantee a pre-poll alliance for elections to 10 urban civic bodies, including Mumbai and Thane
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Mumbai: The pre-poll alliance for local body polls announced by the BJP and the Shiv Sena leadership on Thursday may lead to a temporary truce between the two “uneasy allies", according to functionaries from the two parties.
Till January 8, when the last of the total 212 local bodies goes to polls, leaders from the two parties may maintain at least “a semblance of solidarity" but this temporary phase of friendship does not guarantee a pre-poll alliance for elections to 10 urban civic bodies, including Mumbai and Thane, they said.
“The pre-poll alliance is a temporary arrangement agreed to by both the parties specifically for the local body polls. Obviously, the context for the urban civic body polls would be way different and may have its own arrangements," said a state BJP functionary who did not wish to be named.
At the ground-level, though, the alliance may not matter much because of the delay in the announcement, political analysts feel. “This will help in local bodies where the two parties wanted to come together and were waiting for the leadership’s nod. But at several places, the local mood from both the camps was against the alliance and this announcement has come a bit late for them," said senior journalist and commentator Abhay Deshpande.
BJP state unit president Raosaheb Danve and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut announced the pre-poll alliance on Thursday evening.
Danve said “there never was any confusion or uncertainty over the possibility of pre-poll alliance and the BJP was always in favour". Raut said the Shiv Sena was happy that the BJP leadership had accepted the condition put forward by Sena president Uddhav Thackeray that the pre-poll alliance should be consistent across all 212 municipal bodies.
On Thursday, leaders from two parties held a series of meetings to discuss pre-poll alliance.
“We agreed that each of us needed to take a step back in view of the current political situation marked by the Maratha unrest and consequent caste mobilizations by other groups. Both the parties have more to lose than win if we fight against each other in the local polls. No one knows the political impact of Maratha unrest and it is better to stay together and see the impact so that we are in a better position to negotiate for the future polls," said a Shiv Sena leader requesting anonymity. This leader, who was part of the meetings on Thursday, said the Sena leadership had decided in favour of the pre-poll alliance despite “an overwhelming sentiment from the grass-root cadres suggesting that BJP should be left alone to face the Maratha ire in local polls as it heads the government."
For the BJP, the pre-poll alliance symbolizes a significant correction in its belligerent mood post the 2014 elections in Maharahstra. Deshpande felt the BJP has this time demonstrated “caution rather than super confidence" it was so fond of displaying after 2014.
“The Maratha unrest has instilled this sense of caution. Both the parties hardly have any great ambitions or expectations of significant takeaways from the local body polls. So they must have thought it is good to go together rather than continue the atmosphere of bitterness for a couple of months. In any case, they are unlikely to strike a pre-poll alliance for the larger urban civic body polls, including Mumbai. This phase of ceasefire gives them a breather," Deshpande said.
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