What’s behind Sena’s newfound bonhomie with Congress?
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s public snubbing of ex-Congress President Rahul Gandhi and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) during her three-day visit to the financial capital in the first week of December seems to have—albeit unintentionally—given the Congress a leg-up within the optics of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition that governs Maharashtra.
Relations between the Shiv Sena and the grand old party are at an all-time high, and although on the surface it may seem like the newfound bonhomie between the two parties—initiated first by the Sena when it left no stone unturned as it rushed to the grand old party’s defense in the aftermath of Banerjee’s caustic remarks—is genuine, there is more than what meets the eye.
Strengthening the Congress and protecting the grand old party is not the priority of the Sena—but it is doing so out of compulsion and self-interest. It sees Banerjee’s public attacks aimed at Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, as well as her ardent desire to expand the Trinamool Congress beyond West Bengal’s borders, as a threat to the stability of the Sena-NCP-Congress coalition in Maharashtra. The party feels that the MVA government—of which Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray is at the helm—might become shaky, and even topple if the likes of Banerjee were allowed to preach the cause of a third-front without involving the Congress.
If the Congress is humiliated by Banerjee on its own home turf—without any of its alliance partners coming to its defense—it might put the coalition in a sticky spot. After all, there is no MVA without the Congress—and the Sena, who is seen as the eternal heavyweight in Maharashtra, knows this.
Also read: Mamata wants Congress-less alliance to take on BJP, says Sena leader
While the Shiv Sena may have tremendous respect for Banerjee as a politician, and call her the “Tigress of Bengal” the TMC chief is, after all, an outsider in Maharashtra politics.
The Shiv Sena needs to protect its own government—and more importantly—see out the five-year tenure of its chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. This is of primal importance to the party considering the fact that it was the BJP that had emerged as the single largest party back during the 2019 state election. However, the Sena-NCP-Congress ended up forging an alliance— a last-minute masterstroke orchestrated by the veteran politician Sharad Pawar—and put ideological differences aside with the common aim of preventing a BJP rule in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena had got 56 seats, the NCP 54, and the Congress got the least—44.
A fallout of the Shiv Sena’s need to protect its own government and chief minister is that the Congress has—after spending two years in the coalition—finally begun to find itself on stronger footing within the optics of the MVA government. The public cordiality between the Sena’s Rajya Sabha representative Sanjay Raut and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, as well as the Saamna’s vociferous editorials rebuking Banerjee for considering a third-front without the Congress, has led to the grand old party getting a leg-up within the coalition. It (Congress) finds itself more confident and comfortable.
By publicly defending the Congress, the Sena has not only kept Banerjee in check, but also solidified the MVA government in itself by improving Sena-Congress relations.
During her visit to the financial capital a fortnight ago week, Banerjee took several digs (in public) at the Congress party and its leaders. “No one can do politics by staying abroad all the time,” she said, in a cryptic reference to Rahul Gandhi, who had recently vacationed abroad. Banerjee was speaking at an interaction after having just met NCP Chief Sharad Pawar at his residence in South Mumbai. When asked about her meeting with the Maratha strongman and whether she believed that Pawar should be the one to lead the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Banerjee snubbed the Congress once again. “What UPA? There is no UPA.”
The next day, her political adviser and trusted aide Prashant Kishore kept up the attack on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Kishore took to Twitter to highlight how the Congress had lost more than 90 per cent of the elections it had fought over the last decade, and stated that the “Congress leadership is not the divine right of an individual.”
On the Sunday following her return to West Bengal, in a hard-hitting editorial written in Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna, of which Sanjay Raut is the editor-in-chief, the party rebuked Banerjee’s comments and made it clear that creating an opposition grouping without the Congress was not even in question, as doing so “will amount to strengthening the current fascist forces.” The piece stated that although Banerjee had been successful in defeating the Congress and Left in West Bengal, “forming a parallel front to UPA is like strengthening the BJP,” and that keeping it (the Congress) out of national politics and attempting to capture its space was “risky”. The piece concluded: “It is understandable that (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and BJP feel that Congress should be wiped out. This is a part of their agenda. But it is more dangerous when those fighting against Modi and his ideology think that the Congress should be wiped out.”
Raut, who represents Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha and who is also the Sena’s spokesperson, had met Banerjee along with Aaditya Thackeray a day before she met with Sharad Pawar. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was in the hospital at the time, recovering from spine surgery.
Two days after the Saamna editorial was published, Raut held back-to-back meetings with Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the national capital. After his meeting with the former on Tuesday, Raut told media persons that they had discussed “forging opposition unity,” and once again rushed to the Congress’ defense by stating that although the face for the opposition may be up for debate, but “an opposition front is not possible without the Congress.” He also said that a perception was being created that projected that the opposition was not willing to unite Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. “This is not true,” he said.
The next day, after meeting Priyanka, he told reporters: “We (Shiv Sena and Congress) are thinking of working together in Uttar Pradesh and Goa.” Both are BJP-ruled states that are expected to go to polls early next year. Moreover, Banerjee’s Trinamool, which is looking to expand beyond regional borders, will be contesting both these elections as well.
For the second straight week, Raut, in his weekly column ‘Rokthok’ for Saamna, chronicled his meeting with the Gandhis in quite some detail on Sunday (December 12). He wrote that Rahul Gandhi had told him that the Congress has given a lot to its senior leaders and that he (Rahul) had never disrespected any senior Congress leader. The Shiv Sena leader also went on to write about the discussion they (Rahul and him) had regarding Amarinder Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad—both of whom have been reportedly unhappy with the Congress leadership in recent times. Praising him (Gandhi), Raut said: “It was Rahul Gandhi who had said ‘mark my words, the government will have to take back the farm laws.’”
However, the senior Shiv Sena leader’s biggest display of public affection towards Rahul Gandhi came on Tuesday (December 14) when he welcomed the latter to a protest of suspended Rajya Sabha MPs at Parliament House by saying: “Aap aaye, bahaar aayi (with you, comes spring).”
Also read: There’s no UPA, declares Mamata Banerjee after meeting Sharad Pawar
When asked if his party finds itself on a more solid footing in the aftermath of Banerjee’s visit and the in wake of the newfound affection between senior Sena and Congress leaders, Nana Patole, president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) told The Federal: “Yes. Everyone has accepted this fact.”
Speaking of the Sena-Congress relations within the MVA coalition, he said: “Sena ko kya alliance rakhna hai, nahi rakhna hai, koi unke saath zabardasti toh nahi kar raha hai. Woh agar humsein dosti badhana chaahte hai toh humein kya problem hai? (It is up to Sena to keep or break alliances, no one is forcing them. If they want to be friends with us, why should we have a problem with it?)”
He added: “I don’t know what the Sena’s strategy is, but those who are against the BJP…those who are against selling the nation…we want them to join us.” “She (Banerjee) does politics for herself—not for the country,” he said.
“Shiv Sena understands the game,” said an NCP spokesperson, speaking with The Federal. “It is very clear that the Sena wants Uddhav Thackeray to complete five years as a chief minister—that is the whole game. I don’t know if he (Uddhav Thackeray) aspires to become the prime minister, I doubt it, it’s a very far-fetched idea…but right now, they want to run the government for five years—that is their first priority.”
When asked if the Congress’ position had been solidified within the MVA coalition in the aftermath of Mamata Banerjee’s visit, the spokesperson said: “Of course it has, for the simple reason that there is an outreach from Shiv Sena. This was not there previously—because all communication to Congress from Shiv Sena was done via the NCP. If the Congress is being wooed by the Sena directly, then it is advantage Congress.”
The person added: “The Shiv Sena is interested in completing their five years in office; they understand that without their government in Maharashtra, their political position is also weak. After all, if the current government falls, and if the Sena is to go with the BJP, they will be on a weaker wicket. In the previous alliance between the two parties, the BJP gave the Sena only five ministerial berths with 63 MLAs. Today although the Sena has lesser MLAs, it has got as many as 14 ministers, three ministries, and a chief ministership. Obviously, the returns are greater for Sena when it is a part of the MVA. If Congress steps out of the coalition and the government falls, then the second scenario is that the BJP tries to convince the NCP to form a government. What will happen to the Sena then? They will be left out.”
According to the person, latest polls suggest that the BJP has a 28-32 per cent vote share in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena about 20 per cent, the NCP between 19-20 per cent, and the Congress at 20-21 per cent. “What the BJP is gaining, or has gained in Maharashtra, is basically the floating vote or the migrant vote or the Uttar Bharatiya vote. For how much time this will last…but for the BJP to come to power on its own, it has to decimate one of the three parties (Sena-NCP-Congress) which I don’t think is possible in this kind of scenario where three parties are in power together. So, the question is, from where is the BJP going to get that extra 5-8 per cent to increase its tally from 105 to 114. It looks very unlikely unless it damages one of the three parties.”
Stating that there is no traction for Mamata Banerjee “in this part of the country,” the person said: “Respect is there for her as an individual and as the chief minister of one large state. But if she thinks she can dictate politics in Maharashtra and Mumbai, then it is a far-fetched and ill-conceived idea by Prashant Kishore. Maharashtra politics is different; it has been controlled by Sharad Pawar, and to an extent, Balasaheb Thackeray, and now Uddhav Thackeray—so where does TMC figure in all of this? All the meetings which took place in Mumbai were because of Mamata Banerjee as an individual—they (Sanjay Raut, Aaditya Thackeray, and Sharad Pawar) have respect for her. But if she is going to try and change the course of politics in Maharashtra…it is wrong advice from her advisers.” The person concluded: “In Maharashtra, with Raj Thackeray’s charisma and all of his political pitch of ‘Marathi Manoos’ and all of that, he hasn’t been able to make a dent in anything—even though it has been 15 years since his party was formed. Then what chance is there for Mamata Banerjee?”
Sachin Sawant, general secretary of the MPCC, said that the party was not fazed by the Trinamool chief’s attempts at wooing the other two parties in the MVA coalition during her Mumbai visit. “When somebody is having that kind of ambition—which is not logical—why should we be worried about it? The person who is trying to flex muscles and having ambition by antagonizing the principal opposition party…this is a completely wrong strategy.”
When asked how Congress see itself within the MVA coalition, he said: “We are part of the government now. Without us, there will be no government. And the other two parties (Sena-NCP) know this: if the Congress is not there, there will not be any government in Maharashtra.”
When asked if the Sena was trying to send Banerjee a bottled “don’t-mess-with-us” signal by defending the Congress, party MLA and cabinet minister Aslam Shaikh said: “Somebody has to show the mirror to such parties, that this is your position. And that nobody is going to move because you are daydreaming. Somebody has to give a signal…and if Sena is giving this signal, then that’s a good thing.”
Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar (who belongs to the Shiv Sena), when asked about the Sena’s proactive role in reaching out to the Congress after Banerjee’s visit said that the enemy of her enemy is her friend. “Yes, the Shiv Sena and Congress have different ideologies. But there is no taking away from the fact that the Congress has done a lot for the country.” However, when asked if the Congress’ position has been solidified recently within the MVA coalition, she said: “No, I don’t think so.” She attributed this to state Congress leaders not having brought their A-game along with them over the last decade.
“There seems to be some change coming about with Nana Patole…people can relate to him easily.”
Also read: Congress biggest threat to ‘fascist’ BJP: Sena slams Mamata’s ‘no UPA’ remark
“The Thackeray government has run into chaos, and is now moving towards coma,” said Kirit Somaiya, Vice President of the BJP’s Maharashtra unit. “In one week, they say Mamata didi zindabad, next week they are shouting Rahul Gandhi zindabad, and in the third week, they are shouting Sharad Pawar zindabad. The whole Thackeray-Shiv Sena government has collapsed.”
On the surface, it might look like it makes sense for the Sena to be pally with the Congress. The regional party has expressed interest several times in extending its political clout beyond Maharashtra’s borders—and who better than the Congress to give the regional party a boost in completely new territory? But more important than the Sena’s national ambition, is the need to keep the MVA boat afloat in Maharashtra, which will, by default, maintain the party’s position at the center of Maharashtra politics at least for the next three years.
