Now, Shiv Sena in two minds on withdrawing support to BJP
MUMBAI: With the numbers in its favour, the Shiv Sena is all set to have its Mayor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the next few days. The party, however, is having second thoughts about pulling the plug on the Devendra Fadnavis government that it is supporting.
Prior to the Municipal Council elections, Sena leaders including Uddhav Thackeray had been harping on the issue of withdrawing support to the BJP government. The results of the Municipal polls, where the BJP did exceedingly well, has now led to doubts within the party leadership on withdrawing support. “Obviously the fear is that if we withdraw support to the Fadnavis government now and there is an election, then the BJP may even improve its 2014 Assembly poll performance,” said a Sena leader.
The Sena fear stems from the fact that the BJP did not just do well in the BMC elections, it has also come up trumps in NCP bastions like Pune and Pimpri- Chinchwad.
"It’s not just us. Even other parties are not able to keep their bastions in all the recent elections. So that has to be kept in mind,” said a Sena leader. He said the party is now waiting for March 11 when the Uttar Pradesh poll results would be declared. “We are hopeful that the BJP will not do well in UP. From then on we can create an atmosphere and withdraw support to the government,” he said. He, however, acknowledged that the Sena would be in a very difficult spot if the BJP performs well in the UP elections.
Other Sena leaders said it has become clear to them that the more days the Fadnavis government is in power, the Sena would find it harder to survive. “It’s not that they got two seats less than us in the BMC, it’s that they went from 31 to 82 seats. If the Fadnavis government completes its term then in the next civic elections, we would be in trouble.” he said.
Interestingly there is a section within the BJP that believes that if the party does well in the UP elections then the party on its own should call for midterm elections in Maharashtra as the party could improve its performance.
Prior to the Municipal Council elections, Sena leaders including Uddhav Thackeray had been harping on the issue of withdrawing support to the BJP government. The results of the Municipal polls, where the BJP did exceedingly well, has now led to doubts within the party leadership on withdrawing support. “Obviously the fear is that if we withdraw support to the Fadnavis government now and there is an election, then the BJP may even improve its 2014 Assembly poll performance,” said a Sena leader.
The Sena fear stems from the fact that the BJP did not just do well in the BMC elections, it has also come up trumps in NCP bastions like Pune and Pimpri- Chinchwad.
"It’s not just us. Even other parties are not able to keep their bastions in all the recent elections. So that has to be kept in mind,” said a Sena leader. He said the party is now waiting for March 11 when the Uttar Pradesh poll results would be declared. “We are hopeful that the BJP will not do well in UP. From then on we can create an atmosphere and withdraw support to the government,” he said. He, however, acknowledged that the Sena would be in a very difficult spot if the BJP performs well in the UP elections.
Other Sena leaders said it has become clear to them that the more days the Fadnavis government is in power, the Sena would find it harder to survive. “It’s not that they got two seats less than us in the BMC, it’s that they went from 31 to 82 seats. If the Fadnavis government completes its term then in the next civic elections, we would be in trouble.” he said.
Interestingly there is a section within the BJP that believes that if the party does well in the UP elections then the party on its own should call for midterm elections in Maharashtra as the party could improve its performance.
