Thackeray tantrum

It is remarkable how easily Lal Krishna Advani has managed over one meeting in Mumbai to pacify Bal Thackeray and iron out differences bet...

It is remarkable how easily Lal Krishna Advani has managed over one meeting in Mumbai to pacify Bal Thackeray and iron out differences between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena. Thackeray has had harsh things to say about the Vajpayee government in recent days. There have been major complaints and it is hard to judge which of the several situations he found most galling. Shiv Sena ministers in the Union government have allegedly been given no serious responsibilities; in Thackeray8217;s telling phrase, they carry around empty briefcases.

A continuous grouse is that the BJP8217;s largest ally after the Telugu Desam is not treated with sufficient respect. At the Centre it is not consulted on high policy or gubernatorial appointments. Its political initiatives in Maharashtra receive little support from the state unit of the BJP. In sum, the Shiv Sena feels it has been treated shabbily. It is plain to everyone it plays a relatively insignificant role in New Delhi and its representatives lack the clout of Mamata Banerjee and the kind of access Chandrababu Naidu enjoys.

When the Jammu and Kashmir autonomy resolution was passed it provided an opportunity for Thackeray to bring matters to a head. He was severely critical of the soft approach towards Farooq Abdullah and it seemed at one point Sena ministers at the Centre would be told to stage a protest. Now, all is sweetness and light but no one is saying how it was achieved. The BJP has evidently had to be placatory as Advani8217;s flying visit indicates. The prime minister is also going to meet Thackeray in Mumbai soon.

There is a hint Vajpayee will give a hearing to Manohar Joshi, Suresh Prabhu and Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, the three central ministers, all of whom have had administrative experience but do not seem to have very real functions to perform. Rather than placating Thackeray from time to time it would make more sense for the BJP to set up a regular communications mechanism. That way it will be able to keep itself properly informed of the Sena8217;s plans, avert disruptive activity and have a chance to turn its energies in a useful direction.

Advani has indicated there will be better coordination between the two parties at the state level. More visibility would seem what Thackeray is after. Out of power his party is in danger of becoming irrelevant and being forgotten. The rank and file has suffered some attrition and needs to be rallied again. A sons-of-the-soil campaign started in Mumbai recently consists of attention-getting protests about non-Marathi signboards and the hiring policies of public institutions. In the three decades since the Sena first used similar methods to establish itself politically many things have changed.

Most importantly, the aspirations of Marathi-speaking constituencies to which the Sena appeals are very different and their opportunities for advancement greater. So this campaign may not bear fruit. A party that thrives on agitations often involving violence is bound to return to that course. What will be gained politically with or without BJP help is uncertain. New activism may well take the form of renewed efforts to destabilise the Vilasrao Deshmukh coalition government. One way or another, Chief Minister Deshmukh should prepare for a busy political season.