Friends apart

The usually docile BJP unit in Maharashtra has chosen its moment well to pick a quarrel with the Shiv Sena. At another time, the BJP is u...

The usually docile BJP unit in Maharashtra has chosen its moment well to pick a quarrel with the Shiv Sena. At another time, the BJP is unlikely to get the consideration it is now demanding from the Shiv Sena. But hemmed in by a host of other troubles, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi has no choice but to attend to his suddenly aggressive junior partner8217;s complaints and try to mollify it. The public airing of differences within the ruling coalition could not have come at a worse time for Joshi who faced political battles on two other fronts before the BJP opened a third. Externally, there is the campaign by non-BJP parties in the country to press for the resignation of the Maharashtra government for its failure to act on the Srikrishna report.

Joshi has to take into account the impact of that campaign in the state and, possibly, at the Centre. Another problem is presented by various forms of dissension within the Sena. Apart from fresh murmurs of discontent over Joshi8217;s leadership, there has been a fusilladeof personal charges against him from two former Shiv Sena ministers, Ganesh Naik and Suresh Navale. It could be no accident that these rebels chose for their platform Beed district, the political base of BJP Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde.

The issue which sparked off the Sena-BJP row is no small matter. Since Bal Thackeray has staked his reputation on providing free houses to lakhs of slum-dwellers in Mumbai, the government has been trying without success to come up with a viable scheme. After a change of housing ministers, the second one, Suresh Jain, whittled down the project to a fifth of what the Sena chief had originally promised. But this too, according to the BJP, is unrealistic. Given Maharashtra8217;s perilous financial situation, the BJP has a strong point. But economics is not the real bone of contention. As Munde8217;s letter to Joshi reveals, the BJP is turning up the heat for political reasons. With elections in 18 months, or sooner, neither party has much to claim credit for. So the Sena ispushing free houses and the BJP is applying pressure in the hope that its pet projects will materialise.

The BJP8217;s new-found aggression does not pose an immediate threat to the Joshi government. After all, what matters most to politicians desperately seeking votes is being in a position to deliver something to the electorate. Both sides have an interest in patching up their quarrel. Both have an urgent need to compensate for the poor record of the past three and a half years in power. After ruffled feathers have been smoothed, they will no doubt find ways of meeting their separate and partisan agendas. But the quarrel brings a few things out into the open. The BJP sees no dividends in playing second fiddle to a party which is under siege from without and shows signs of internal turmoil. By making public its points of difference with its partner, the BJP has taken out an insurance policy. Should the situation worsen for the Sena, the BJP hopes to emerge unscathed itself by claiming the coalition8217;s failingswere not of its own making but due to Joshi8217;s neglect of the BJP8217;s programmes. The endgame begins.