Mumbai: The BJP, Shiv Sena fire-works have been deferred till after Diwali, when Amit Shah visits Mumbai on October 30 and meets Uddhav Thackeray. That gives both the parties two days to rethink their strategies and retreat from their shrill positions.
Given the political compulsions, especially the symbiotic relationship the BJP and the Shiv Sena share – a glaring instance of which is their stranglehold over the BMC and numerous other civic bodies -- both sides cannot stretch the game of nerves beyond a point.
The Sena, of course, is still keeping up pretence about cosying up with the NCP; so, giving a hint of the new evolving ties, Sanjay Raut appealed to all new party MLAs to visit Baramati to see how they need to nurse their own constituencies.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar could not have got a better left-handed compliment. The buzz is that Raut may also visit Baramati; Pawar generally meets leaders and workers the next day after Laxmipuja.
But Pawar is simply not interested in muddying the waters, at this point. Watching the political tamasha from the sidelines, he is more inclined to go with the flow.
Political observers feel that for the Shiv Sena, it is now or never. Raising the ante, Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the Sena has wrested the "remote control," despite securing fewer seats than that in 2014.
The phrase remote control is a throwback to the first Sena-BJP government in the state (1995-1999) when the late party patriarch Bal Thackeray used the term to explain the chain of command in the ruling saffron dispensation.
The use of this term today in the backdrop of the simmering tension suggests that the Sena will keep its finger tips on the pressure points even if they agree to share the political space with the BJP.
In the BJP, a section of the MLAs believe that they should call the Sena’s bluff; they find it difficult to digest that the Sena will tie itself to the NCP and the Congress apron strings to form a government.
So, it has been suggested that if the Sena does not blink, the BJP should stake claim to form a minority government. But that is better said than done. Any such move will send the Sena scurrying into the Pawaar’s arms.
Amit Shah’s decision to give the deputy chief minister’s post to Dushyant Chautala is a subtle political message to the Sena how this matter can be resolved.
The BJP is not ready to give the CM post to Shiv Sena. "We have double the strength in Assembly. How we can give this post to the Sena?" a senior leader demanded.
So, the most possible outcome is the Shiv Sena relenting and reconciling to having a Deputy Chief Minister’s post along with 50:50 per cent berths. Key portfolios like Revenue, Urban Development, Finance and Housing will be divided between the two parties.
The BJP has called its legislative party meeting on Wednesday, October 30, and the swearing-in is expected on October 31 or November 1.
