After having striven hard to emerge as the single largest party in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems intent on preserving its newly gained advantage vis-à-vis former ally Shiv Sena: the party is continuing with the tough posture it adopted during the pre-election seat-sharing talks. The go-it-alone tactic for the Assembly election was finalised as part of a long-term strategy, and the BJP is in no mood to surrender its lead over other parties, especially the Shiv Sena. Excessive concessions in terms of ministerial berths would have nullified the gains from the success of the gamble the party took in contesting the election without a major ally. The BJP could not afford to be seen as bowing to pressures from its allies. One of the reasons why the Congress came across as weak and ineffectual during the United Progressive Alliance’s years in power was the unreasonable pressure exerted by its allies on the government. Evidently, the BJP does not want to repeat the same mistakes, especially when it has a majority of its own in the Lok Sabha. The tough talk with allies was also a message to the electorate: the party would not give in to unreasonable demands of allies for the sake of power. With the Nationalist Congress Party offering unconditional support, the BJP had the luxury of driving a hard bargain with the Sena. Of course, sooner or later the NCP too would demand its price for the support, but for now the BJP is hoping to play the Sena against the NCP.
When Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as Chief Minister on Friday, he will still have to balance the Sena and the NCP with some help from the BJP’s national leadership. The NCP, which was part of the previous government led by the Congress, and which was attacked by the BJP during the campaign as corrupt, is unlikely to be accommodated in the Ministry. A weakened and chastised Sena, shorn of its pretensions to being the biggest party in Maharashtra, is what the BJP is hoping to accommodate in its government. But the very fact that the BJP is going ahead and staking claim to form the government without tying up an agreement with the Sena, shows the party’s new-found confidence. But unlike the BJP-led government at the Centre, the Fadnavis government will have only limited room for manoeuvre, dependent as it is on the support of other parties. Whether as opponent or ally, the Sena is not easy to deal with. Mr. Fadnavis would do well to concentrate on the growth and development plank, giving a boost to commerce and industry, leaving the political management to the party leadership. That is the best way to skirt contentious issues such as statehood for Vidarbha, on which the BJP deliberately maintains an ambiguous stand.
