Sena, BJP court Independents to check "secular" front

In fact, Ashok Dongaonkar, erstwhile leader of the rebels and one-time minister in the Sena-BJP government, today indicated that the Independents, while in no position to pull support from the government, might not come through to the Sena-BJP during the Lok Sabha polls.

“The problem here is that once we were one entity, Now we have been split up into several factions,” he told The Indian Express. This was done, separately, by the Sena and the BJP, each of which was attempting to strengthen itself. So now, says Dongaonkar, “We will wait and see which party gets which seat in the secular alliance. And then we will compare their candidates with those of the Sena-BJP. So our support will vary.”

This emerging consensus among the Independents worries the BJP more than the Sena, for it has little support base in the rural constituencies of Maharashtra. Moreover, the Sena and the BJP appear to be racked by internal contradictions, manifesting itself in a subtle war of nerves between the Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar and the BJP’s Nitin Gadkari. Gadkari got an edge over Kirtikar vis-a-vis wooing the Independents by hosting a dinner for them Tuesday night. But that, say Sena supporters, is only because Kirtikar might be looking elsewhere for support, the Independents being less important to the Sena’s scheme of things as the party relies less on extraneous factors than on Thackeray’s charisma.

Nevertheless both allies are said to be equally rattled ever since several Independents were spotted in Congress camps. While Sunil Kedar, a former minister in the Joshi cabinet, made no bones about extending his support to the Congress morcha, there are others who have been holding quiet one-to-one discussions with several Congress leaders, Sharad Pawar.

According to reliable sources, Pawar has been stretching efforts to neutralise as many Independents as possible. The modus operandi apparently is to secure their captive support in individual constituencies without making any overt efforts to break them from the Sena-BJP alliance. The Congress is said to be advising these Independents to continue their support to the government in the interest of their own constituencies while baiting them with future prospects within the Congress, should the party make a good showing at the polls or they be discarded by the Sena-BJP.

So said Dongaonkar, with a sardonic air, “We will continue to be much in demand by all parties — until the elections.” Saying this, he left in a hurry: to attend yet another dinner at the home of another Independent.