BJP says won’t be drawn into war of words with Shiv Sena

Instead, the party has started working on a Plan B if the Sena fails to respond to its offer for a pre-poll alliance in the 2019 Assembly and Parliament elections. It means the possibility of the BJP going to the polls alone also.

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The BJP’s top leadership has decided not to engage in a war of words with alliance partner Shiv Sena. (File)

The BJP’s top leadership has decided not to engage in a war of words with alliance partner Shiv Sena, which has kept up its attack on the BJP government in the state and at the Centre and also spurned its offer for pre-poll talks. Instead, the party has started working on a Plan B if the Sena fails to respond to its offer for a pre-poll alliance in the 2019 Assembly and Parliament elections. It means the possibility of the BJP going to the polls alone also. “We have given clear directives to the cadre to lie low for the moment and get back to grassroots work, keeping all options ready for the big battle in 2019,” said a highly placed source in the BJP.

“Any attempt to engage the Sena in a verbal dual does not augur well for the BJP. Instead, the Sena’s heightened attack against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the BJP will only expose Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s double-standards. After all, the Sena will have to explain that if they have a problem with the BJP, what makes them continue in the coalition at the Centre and in Maharashtra,” the source added.

At present, the BJP has 122 MLAs in the 288-seat state Assembly. Of 48 Lok Sabha seats in all, the BJP has 23. The process to strengthen the party’s organisational base in the remaining 166 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats is under way. The party has already started the process of booth building across 36 districts. The party has completed the exercise in 83,000 booths. There are 90,000 booths in all. Each booth will have at least 25 members.

Explaining the BJP’s thinking, a senior party functionary said, “On April 6, BJP president Amit Shah categorically said they would like to have a pre-poll alliance with the Sena in the 2019 elections. Similar sentiments have been expressed by Fadnavis several times.” “Yet, in the past week, the Sena appears to have made a scathing attack against the BJP-led government in the state and at the Centre. The BJP’s decision to initiate the process of pre-poll talks too was spurned by the Sena. Sena (MP) Sanjay Raut has warned, ‘Sena will not fall prey to BJP’s offer so easily’,” he said.

BJP leader and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, however, underplayed the attack by the Sena. “The BJP and Sena are working together in the Cabinet. What they speak outside it is for them to explain. As far as the government is concerned, the Sena is cooperating with the BJP on all policies,” he said. Referring to pre-poll talks, he said, “The BJP believes it should have an alliance with the Sena. But if the Sena wants to go solo, the BJP is well-prepared to meet the challenge on its own.”

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