Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray must have been pleased as Punch that of all the people, Amit Shah, the unquestioned number two in the ruling dispensation, came calling. One of his outstanding grievances was that he is not accorded the respect that his late father Balasaheb Thackeray had enjoyed. In particular, not only is he miffed that the BJP snatched the chief minister’s crown from his nominee but what seems to rankle him further is that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis does not massage his ego, calling on him occasionally at Matoshree, the Thackeray’s residence.
Apparently, in these permissive times respect is demanded, not earned. On their part, the BJP leaders have shown a complete lack of tact by not being outwardly deferential to the Sena Supremo for it costs very little to massage fragile egos while it saves the alliance avoidable frictions and tension. Anyway, Shah’s meeting with Thackeray ought to lead to less rancour, less bitterness in the ties between the alliance partners in Maharashtra. That relations had reached such a nadir that the two partners fielded their own candidates in the recent Lok Sabha by-election in Palghar.
The narrow win of the BJP in the confrontation ought to have driven some points home. One, that the two partners cannot hope to win power if they contest against each other, a candidate of a third party or alliance might emerge the winner. Two, the BJP having become the senior partner in the ruling coalition in the State did no disfavour to Sena, it was the bigger party with a bigger following even in Maharashtra. After Palaghar, if there is need for the BJP to show magnanimity and generosity of spirit towards its junior partner, the latter, too, ought to give up its recalcitrant behaviour.
Constantly throwing tantrums and making minatory noises does not redound to its credit. In fact, the voters might be wondering if the Sena was so unhappy in the alliance why was it still clinging with the BJP. Having said that, it is good that Shah has come to appreciate the need to mend fences with the BJP’s alliance partners a year ahead of a fresh parliamentary poll. More than the Prime Minister, whose inaccessibility at least can be understood, it is the BJP President who has come across as arrogant, aloof and unavailable even for the senior leaders of the alliance partners. Politics is all about keeping people happy, not alienated. Here, you had the President of the ruling party who exuded nothing but arrogance, giving the impression as if the allies were expendable.
The cavalier approach towards allies has already led to the bitter parting with the Telugu Desam Party. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu was so embittered by the couldn’t-care-less attitude of the Modi Government that now he has become the BJP’s harshest critic. Had the Modi-Shah duo shown understanding and tact, maybe the alliance with the TDP could have been still in place. Though, it must be admitted that Naidu had his own compulsions insofar as his demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh was legally untenable, but he still felt obliged to push for it given the intense pressure from the Opposition YS Reddy Congress which was breathing down his neck. However, other allies, too, were dissatisfied by the unconcern shown by the Modi-Shah duo.
The Akalis, the oldest allies of the BJP, groused about the denial of the promised governorship and nominations to the Minorities Commission. In Bihar, too, smaller caste-based parties, which had thrown their weight behind the BJP, were smarting under the calculated neglect by the bigger partner. After a string of losses in by-elections and the failure to form a government in Karnataka, a much chastened BJP chief has acknowledged the need to refresh the channels of communications with the party’s partners. Shah’s arrogance might have been due to his lack of experience at the national level or the handling of a coalition, but he must make a conscious effort to keep the allies in good humour. The BJP needs the allies more than the allies need it since the anti-BJP grand alliance underway would be too pleased to rope them in. It pays to be humble, Mr Shah, round the year — and not just when difficult State and parliamentary elections are beginning to loom large on the horizon.