BJP leaders deny any rift, insist that Amit Shah had to prioritise his party. (File pic)
It should have been an opportunity for the ruling BJP and its oldest ally, the Shiv Sena, to join hands in a show of strength before the Maharashtra assembly elections. Instead, Amit Shah's first visit to Mumbai as BJP president today has set the allies on an unprecedented collision course.
It started with Amit Shah simply finding no time to spare for Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, even though he is scheduled to visit three Ganesh Pandals in the city and a grand lunch hosted by one of BJP's youngest MPs, Poonam Mahajan. An address to BJP workers has also been squeezed in.
The Sena, in a late night response to the snub, announced that Mr Thackeray would address the press at noon today, ostensibly on the party's "Vision document". The clash in timing is not lost on anyone; Mr Shah is to meet BJP workers in suburban Mumbai at the same time.
"It's a deliberate move," a Sena source revealed, adding, "And we don't care. Ultimately, we are the bigger party and ally in Maharashtra. It is for all to see who is behaving inappropriately."
BJP leaders denied any rift, insisting that Mr Shah had to prioritise his party.
The alliance has, however, seen bitter squabbling over seat-sharing for the Maharashtra elections due later this year. Buoyed by their massive victory in the national election in May, the BJP has been demanding more seats on grounds that a 'Mode wave' powered the sweep; the alliance won 42 of Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha seats, reducing the Nationalist Congress Party to four and the Congress to two seats.
The Sena hit back through editorials in their mouthpiece Saamna, warning the BJP against complacence after the less than favourable results in last month's by-polls.
In the 2009 state polls, the Sena contested 169 of 288 seats while the BJP was given 119 seats. But now the BJP wants the Sena to part with about 15-20 seats for other allies. The tug-of-war has been intense as the Chief Minister's post is first offered to the party that wins more seats.