The Shiv Sena and the BJP have decided to hold fire after an initial round of attacks and counterattacks. With the election results uncertain, neither of the erstwhile partners wants to shut out the option of a post-poll alliance. The BJP has directed its state unit and campaigners not to attack the Sena. The Sena, for its part, has told its leaders to keep their criticism of the BJP low-key. READ: BJP top gainer as rebels swell in number The original BJP strategy was to target Uddhav Thackeray for his “arrogance that has broken the alliance” but the party now says its campaign will be focused on governance and development and a promise to return Maharashtra’s “self-esteem and identity”. BJP sources said the party is targeting 130 seats. “Our main target will the 15-year misrule of the Congress-NCP,”said Shrikant Sharma, BJP national secretary. “The Shiv Sena used to be an ally and we have broken up. We have decided to put it behind us and look ahead.” After the split, Uddhav had attacked the BJP for snapping the 25-year-old alliance. Now, the Sena has resolved to showcase Uddhav as chief minister and market his vision document for seeking votes. “We don’t want to shift the focus away from Uddhavji’s leadership and Congress-NCP misrule to the problems in the Sena-BJP ties,” a source in the Sena told The Indian Express. The Sena has also kept a channel open for reaching out to the MNS, sources said. The high point of the Sena campaign will be a rally at Bandra-Kurla Complex on October 12, which Uddhav will address. The Sena will not, however, hold its customary Vijay Dashmi rally in the election season. BJP leaders said even in urban constituencies, where the Sena and the BJP eye the same vote bank, party leaders have been asked to project the BJP as a party that has proved its governance skills in states it rules rather than indulge in a negative campaign against its former ally. The BJP’s campaign will talk about making Maharashtra a manufacturing hub once again. The campaign and the party’s manifesto will outline how a BJP government will improve GDP, the industrial sector, roads and agriculture, and ensure 24-hour power — factors essential to the manufacturing sector. Two central government programmes the BJP campaign will play on in Maharashtra and Haryana are the Pradhan Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana — launched last month and aiming at opening at least one bank account for every family in less than six months — and Make in India to make India a hub of manufacturing and to provide jobs. The target audience is the poor with the first, and the middle class with the second. Geete will quit once Modi returns MUMBAI: A day after Raj Thackeray mocked the Shiv Sena for maintaining its alliance with the BJP at the Centre, Uddhav Thackeray announced that Anant Geete, the only Sena union minister, will resign as soon as Narendra Modi returns from the United States. Raj had said, “After such humiliation meted out to you, you have still not withdrawn your minister. The alliance with the BJP in BMC has not been broken. All this is is being done because they don’t want their income sources to dry up.” The Sena has not yet spoken about its plans for the BMC, which it governs with the BJP. ENS
