BJP-United Shiv Sena needed in Maharashtra

The alliance between the two parties stretches back to 1984 and lasted till 2019.

- VIVEK GUMASTE

Prior to the Lok Sabha elections, a jittery fragmented opposition rattled by a buoyant BJP's claim to surpass the 400mark had rallied together to demonstrate a show of unity. Three months later, post the anti-climax (the BJP that was projected to steamroller the opposition failed to get even a simple majority and the opposition did better than expected), political parties have reverted to their old ways and remain in a state of flux; uncertain and tentative about where and whom they should align with.

The show of unity is crumbling. AAP and Congress have parted ways in Haryana. In Delhi the Congress has vowed to go it alone and in UP, the upcoming by-polls have brought to the surface the natural discordance between the SP and Congress.

In this uncertain and volatile political climate pervading the country a realignment of forces may prove crucial especially in Maharashtra where an unlikely three-party triumvirate on either side is trying to forge a winning combination. The BJP must exploit this fluidity to rectify what is undoubtedly its biggest political blunder: the break-up with its long-time and ideological partner the Shiv Sena.

The alliance between the two parties stretches back to 1984 and lasted till 2019 when a miffed Uddhav Thackeray split from the BJP to become the Chief Minister with the help of the NCP and the Congress. The BJP-Shiv Sena partnership was a natural robust ideological alignment with both parties espousing the Hindutva cause.