The ‘minnows’ in the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance, who contested the 2014 elections as Maha-yuti, are feeling uneasy as the ruling coalition in Maharashtra has not recognized their contribution to the big win in the Lok Sabha as well as the state assembly elections.
The leaders of the four smaller parties have waited for long for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to accommodate them as political stakeholders, but the BJP was more busy sorting out its differences with the Shiv Sena. Fadnavis had then sought time from these partners, but their patience is now running out.
Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale has been the first to speak out and demand a share in the power pie for all the smaller partners who helped the alliance secure a decisive win in Maharashtra, where the Congress-NCP combine had ruled for the last 15 years without a break.
Athawale, Mahadev Jankar of Rashtriya Samaj Party, Vinayak Mete of Shiv Sangram and Raju Shetty of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana recently held a meeting to sort out these issues with the BJP led government.
To begin with, they are really upset over the delay in accommodating their representatives in the cabinet. Athawale was more critical of the saffron alliance and pointed out that the smaller allies had given the combine a cutting edge over the
Congress-NCP alliance in the last two elections. But for the support of the Dalit and the OBC vote consolidation, it would not have been possible for the BJP to defeat the Congress-NCP alliance in the state.
He has given a sort of ultimatum to the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra to immediately accommodate these poll partners in the cabinet. Even Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has publicly acknowledged their contribution in the Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti alliance, when the Sena fought the last assembly elections on its own strength and performed well. In fact, a prominent leader from the Dalit movement, Arjun Dangle, decided to remain with the Shiv Sena when Ramdas Athawale had decided to support the BJP led NDA during the assembly elections.
Ramdas Athawale also voiced his unhappiness over the delay and pointed out that it was Gopinath Munde who had persuaded RPI to join the BJP led alliance in the state with an assurance that, as a part of its social engineering, the new government, as and when it came to power, will reward these smaller parties representing the weaker social strata.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is aware of the delicate social balance and the need to accommodate these stakeholders in the cabinet, tried to pacify the disgruntled parties. He pushed into service Women and Child Welfare minister Pankaja Munde to assuage the hurt expressed by the leaders of these four parties. Most of them have high a regard for Munde and would have been more amenable to reasoning by Pankaja Munde.
The Chief Minister has already put into motion a mechanism for better coordination between all the partners of Maha-yuti for smooth functioning of the government. The coordination committee was primarily needed for sorting out the thorny issues nagging the BJP-Shiv Sena government. But now the committee will be expanded to include representatives from these smaller parties.
The Chief Minister met this disgruntled group and assured them that their demand for inclusion in the cabinet as a part of power sharing will be considered on priority basis. Being an astute politician, however, he has not given any definite assurance to include their representatives in the cabinet but merely indicated that he would consult Delhi on the issue during the next reshuffle. He has not specified a time frame for the reshuffle either but indicated that it will take place prior to the Monsoon session. The process may start once Fadnavis returns from his visit to China along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But before any headway can be made, certain issues need to be addressed. RPI leader Ramdas Athawale, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, is interested in joining the Modi government at the Centre rather accepting a berth in the state government. These small partners also keep harping that they helped the BJP immensely by not siding with the Shiv Sena when the alliance had ruptured. The BJP would never have improved its tally in Maharashtra without the help of the four ‘minnows’ who supported them without any reservations. Now is the time for the BJP government to reward them politically and secure their continued support. Athawale maintains that had these parties supported the Shiv Sena instead of the BJP, the Sena would have got 50 more seats, thereby reducing the BJP tally.
The smaller allies have become edgy and want nothing less than 10 per cent share in lower. Each of these allies also has its own agenda which they want the government to fulfill. Vinayak Mete, for instance, wants the government to put the memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji on fast track. Apart from inclusion in the cabinet, he wants reservation for the Maratha community while Jankar is upset over the dithering on reservation for the Dhangar community.
NCP president Sharad Pawar, who has excellent relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tries to needle the Fadnavis government every now and then by infusing an element of uncertainty in the political scenario. He recently said that the BJP should not nurture the false hope that the government in Maharashtra will complete its full five year term as there is lot of resentment among MLAs on the treasury benches. Though he refused to mention anything in particular, the open ended statement has had the desired effect.
It may be just a coincidence but immediately after Pawar talked about the looming uncertainty, these four parties have begun putting pressure on the Fadnavis government for inclusion in the cabinet. There is nothing new in their demand but this time Athawale and the others were more than vocal and set a kind of deadline for the BJP dispensation. He even openly threatened to walk out of the BJP led NDA, if their legitimate demand for share in power is not acceptable. Never before have these small parties given an ultimatum or threatened to walk out of the political alliance.
The BJP floor managers also must have taken a serious note of these threats: they know very well that on its own it is not possible for the BJP to repeat its electoral performance. Fadnavis will have to take the BJP seniors at the Centre in confidence and move fast to pacify these valuable partners, if it wants to consolidate its hold in the state.
Prakash Bal Joshi
