Having stripped first power and then the party from Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP has rendered its erstwhile partner the most comprehensive defeat. Now, there are hints it might lower the heat. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, considered the main string-puller in the BJP of all the power moves since the 2019 Assembly elections threw up mixed results, was among those who suggested last week that the rhetoric needed to be dialled down. “We don't treat our political rivals as enemies. Uddhav Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray have chosen a different path, our path is different. We are not enemies, we have ideological differences,” Fadnavis said. After a year-long no-holds barred battle between the two sides since the BJP engineered the split in the Shiv Sena, Fadnavis also voiced disappointment over the turn politics had taken in the state. “Maharashtra is known for its civilised and cultured traits, which are its inherent strength,” he said. While Fadnavis was earlier known as a leader more in the mould of politicians of old, he has largely shed that soft-spoken image in the past three years. In the battle with Uddhav's Shiv Sena over who represents the “real Hindutva”, the BJP has also been raising issues like “love jihad” that weren't part of its rhetoric in the state. However, the Election Commission decision awarding the Eknath Shinde-led Sena faction, which is aligned with the BJP, both the name and the symbol of the Shiv Sena has generated some sympathy for the Thackerays – which the BJP is not blind to. Since it was founded by Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena and the family have been seen as one and the same, and many loyalists see the EC action as partisan and influenced by the BJP government at the Centre. Uddhav is playing on this, saying he has been robbed of his father's legacy, and vowing vengeance on the BJP. A song along these lines is already popular in the Sena ranks. The BJP knows the tables could quickly turn if the Uddhav Sena is able to mount a convincing narrative of betrayal to the party's highly emotional followers. Hence, the distancing by the BJP from what, at the heart of it, is an inner-Shiv Sena drama. A senior BJP functionary said, “The fight for the party name and symbol was between the Uddhav Sena and the Shinde faction. But public sentiments in favour of Uddhav will dent the BJP's image. We have to course-correct and carefully chart our roadmap ahead of the BMC polls this year and the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2024.” Other BJP leaders also argue that the party's main objective was to teach Uddhav a lesson for his desertion of the NDA in 2019, to join hands with the NCP and Congress to form a government – and that has been achieved. Now, the party must move on, they say. With nothing to lose, Uddhav might not climb down as easily, and has pledged to fight for “justice” not just legally but in “people's court”. Saying his alliance with the Congress and NCP was intact, he has said: “We have to fight the BJP harder from every forum ahead.” The NCP and Congress are not letting up their attack on the BJP either, over the Sena issue. NCP leader Ajit Pawar said: “The world knows the Shiv Sena was founded by Bal Thackeray. Its bow and arrow symbol was rightfully their (the Uddhav Sena's) claim. If you divest them of their rights, it is unjust. People will not like it.” Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole said: “The BJP has misused every institution to serve its political interests. But this will boomerang.”
