by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
It is in this context that the recent "chapati-gate" incident, in which Sena MP Rajan Vichare gained his one evening of television (ill-) fame by shoving a chapati into the mouth of a Muslim employee of Railway's catering arm at Delhi"s Maharashtra Sadan, needs to be seen. It could well be an expression of the Sena MP"s bottled-up anger against BJP, the supposedly communal spin given to the incident by television channels being a hasty over-simplification. The Sena MPs, it is learnt, were surging at the prominence BJP members supposedly enjoyed at Maharashtra government"s official guest house in Delhi. They were particularly riled by the "special treatment" meted out to Satyapal Singh, former Mumbai police commissioner elected on a BJP ticket from Baghpat constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Singh was reportedly allotted a suite reserved for Maharashtra cabinet ministers and High Court judges. It was Lokmat which broke the story first. There are other issues also between Modi and Shiv Sena including the allotment of insignificant Heavy Industries portfolio to Anant Geete of Shiv Sena with a "take it or leave it" message. The Shiv Sena has always been suspicious of Surface Transport & Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari's proximity with Raj Thackeray and the role played by the two during the recent Lok Sabha polls. Gadkari continues to be front runner for the post of Chief Minister in the post-poll scenario in Maharashtra particularly after the untimely accidental death of Gopinath Munde. On the surface, the chapati incident could also be an expression of irritation at the Congress-NCP state government that manages the affairs of Maharashtra Sadan. But that interpretation has been turned upside down by Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece. Commenting on the Sadan incident, it shot off its mouth, saying, "tomorrow"s rulers of Maharashtra are the Shiv Sena, let them (Sadan managers) not forget".
So the "chapati-gate" in fact opens out to the bitter fight now being fought on the political stage of Maharashtra, that for seat sharing between Shiv Sena and BJP in the forthcoming assembly election. BJP, confident that the Sena could bag in the Lok Sabha poll only 18 seats largely due to the Modi wave sweeping the nation, is certainly in no mood to follow the traditional formula of seat sharing, 164: 116 of 2009. Besides, there are new guests at the dinner: RPI (Athavale), Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Shiv Sangram. RPI itself has placed a hefty demand for 30 seats. The question is not only who (between BJP and the Sena) will get how many tickets but who will sacrifice more to make room for the newcomers from their respective quota of seats. The Sena has upped the ante by saying not a seat more can be conceded than what it got in 2009. Its chest thumping, declaring itself "tomorrow"s rulers" is the subtext to its insistence on the old formula for seat allocation. And on this issue hinges Udhhav"s desire to be the first Thackeray to rule the state, a clear jump from Shiv Sena"s horizon limited to ruling over municipalities.
Such ambition, though not unfair, could be feasible if only two problems were fixed. First, Modi has little patience for Uddhav, who does not seem to fit into the Prime Minister"s idea of a team of docile managers translating into reality what are essentially his ideas of good governance. Given a chance, he'd perhaps have taken Uddhav's cousin Raj on board. But that is not to be, the two cousins being sworn rivals. So much upset Modi is with Uddhav that on the day of the chapati fiasco he was visiting Mumbai yet had no meeting with the head of his alliance partner.
The Shiv Sena election symbol of bow-and-arrow hints that
it is unrelenting in shooting its target, which has shifted over the
decades--from Bombay"s (Mumbai)
entrepreneurial South Indians to migrant workers from Bihar
and Uttar Pradesh. The "arrow" also unfailingly aimed at Muslims, the
supposed common enemy that endeared it to the BJP as far back as the
1990"s, their alliance having tasted power in the rich state of Maharashtra. Shiv Sena is a regional chauvinist party,
which does not square with BJP"s pan-India aspirations. But they share a
fondness for non-Islamic or pre-Islamic India"s supposedly glorious
past, and that has bonded them closely enough in the past twenty years.
However, the alliance has now entered a new phase, with BJP"s rein passing
into the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his acolyte Amit Shah, the
new party president, from L. K. Advani, the unchallenged head of the saffron
clan till the other day. After all, it was Advani who rebuilt the party when
Atal Behari Vajpayee's "soft Hindutva" policy reduced its strength to
a mere two seats in Lok Sabha. It was Advani who took the party to 160 MPs in
1996. Similarly, Shiv Sena has undergone a split, with Bal Thackeray's nephew
Raj taking away a slice of supporters from Mumbai and the party"s Maratha
support base continuing with son Uddhav. But Narendra Modi and Uddhav Thackeray
are hardly natural allies, not a fraction of the inseparable duo that Bal
Thackeray and Advani made. No wonder that the Sena"s bow has begun to
target its arrow to BJP. And that too at a time election to the Maharshtra
assembly is drawing near.
It is in this context that the recent "chapati-gate" incident, in which Sena MP Rajan Vichare gained his one evening of television (ill-) fame by shoving a chapati into the mouth of a Muslim employee of Railway's catering arm at Delhi"s Maharashtra Sadan, needs to be seen. It could well be an expression of the Sena MP"s bottled-up anger against BJP, the supposedly communal spin given to the incident by television channels being a hasty over-simplification. The Sena MPs, it is learnt, were surging at the prominence BJP members supposedly enjoyed at Maharashtra government"s official guest house in Delhi. They were particularly riled by the "special treatment" meted out to Satyapal Singh, former Mumbai police commissioner elected on a BJP ticket from Baghpat constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Singh was reportedly allotted a suite reserved for Maharashtra cabinet ministers and High Court judges. It was Lokmat which broke the story first. There are other issues also between Modi and Shiv Sena including the allotment of insignificant Heavy Industries portfolio to Anant Geete of Shiv Sena with a "take it or leave it" message. The Shiv Sena has always been suspicious of Surface Transport & Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari's proximity with Raj Thackeray and the role played by the two during the recent Lok Sabha polls. Gadkari continues to be front runner for the post of Chief Minister in the post-poll scenario in Maharashtra particularly after the untimely accidental death of Gopinath Munde. On the surface, the chapati incident could also be an expression of irritation at the Congress-NCP state government that manages the affairs of Maharashtra Sadan. But that interpretation has been turned upside down by Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece. Commenting on the Sadan incident, it shot off its mouth, saying, "tomorrow"s rulers of Maharashtra are the Shiv Sena, let them (Sadan managers) not forget".
So the "chapati-gate" in fact opens out to the bitter fight now being fought on the political stage of Maharashtra, that for seat sharing between Shiv Sena and BJP in the forthcoming assembly election. BJP, confident that the Sena could bag in the Lok Sabha poll only 18 seats largely due to the Modi wave sweeping the nation, is certainly in no mood to follow the traditional formula of seat sharing, 164: 116 of 2009. Besides, there are new guests at the dinner: RPI (Athavale), Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Shiv Sangram. RPI itself has placed a hefty demand for 30 seats. The question is not only who (between BJP and the Sena) will get how many tickets but who will sacrifice more to make room for the newcomers from their respective quota of seats. The Sena has upped the ante by saying not a seat more can be conceded than what it got in 2009. Its chest thumping, declaring itself "tomorrow"s rulers" is the subtext to its insistence on the old formula for seat allocation. And on this issue hinges Udhhav"s desire to be the first Thackeray to rule the state, a clear jump from Shiv Sena"s horizon limited to ruling over municipalities.
Such ambition, though not unfair, could be feasible if only two problems were fixed. First, Modi has little patience for Uddhav, who does not seem to fit into the Prime Minister"s idea of a team of docile managers translating into reality what are essentially his ideas of good governance. Given a chance, he'd perhaps have taken Uddhav's cousin Raj on board. But that is not to be, the two cousins being sworn rivals. So much upset Modi is with Uddhav that on the day of the chapati fiasco he was visiting Mumbai yet had no meeting with the head of his alliance partner.
"Stop
Sari-Shawl
diplomacy"
comment
may spoil the
marriage ”
However, Uddhav's problem is
deeper as it is attitudinal. He lacks the manners and skill to present his case
without offending the person, Modi in this case, with whom he is negotiating.
Saamna editor Sanjay Raut, an Uddhav acolyte, recently flew off the handle on
Modi's Pakistan
policy, criticising his "sari and shawl diplomacy", a dig at Modi who
sent a shawl for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s mother. Modi responded
to the gesture as Sharif presented a sari for Modi's mother when he came to India
for Modi swearing-in-ceremony on May 26.
The Sena functionary's comment, apart from
being indecorous, betrayed a dangerous tendency to interfere with foreign
policy by an ally, a ground where Modi would not permit state leaders to tread.
BJP and Shiv Sena may still contest the polls together in Maharashtra,
but the proposed marriage threatens to get sour before the wedding bells are
heard.
(The author is
National Editor
of
Lokmat group)
