Is 90-minute hush-hush meeting at Lower Parel high-rise a sign of a new tactical alliance in state?
Devendra Fadnavis with Raj Thackeray. A section of BJP leaders has always been in favour of a tie-up with MNS, say sources. File pic
The enemy of your enemy is your friend. At least that's what the BJP and MNS seem to be thinking lately. Former CM Devendra Fadnavis and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, the estranged cousin of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, set tongues wagging after a meeting on Thursday evening in Lower Parel.
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SpeculationsS are now ripe that the BJP and MNS might bury their differences to take on the Shiv Sena and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Despite repeated attempts, Fadnavis and MNS leaders did not respond to the calls made to them.
The oldest saffron alliance parted ways after the recent Assembly polls after which the Shiv Sena joined hands with earlier rivals Congress and NCP to form a tri-party state government. The move did not go down well with Fadnavis, the BJP and its central leadership.
The Sena-BJP split, sources said, might look like a blessing in disguise to Raj Thackeray and the MNS. The MNS chief is likely to alter his plans and strategies to regain lost ground with the BJP in sync.
Prakash Bal Joshi, senior political analyst, said, "A section of BJP leaders has been suggesting a tie-up with Raj Thackeray ever since he left Sena to set up his own party. Now that the BJP-Sena have parted ways, the voice for working closely with MNS will naturally grow in the BJP."
The cousins' story
Raj Thackeray split from the Shiv Sena in 2006 and formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. His party won 13 Assembly seats in 2009 and 28 seats in the 2012 BMC elections. The party began witnessing decline soon after with their seat tally being a meagre one in the 2014 Assembly polls.
Raj has been trying several means to bolster his presence ever since — campaigning against the BJP-Sena during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls being the latest one. The MNS chief is now trying to change the colours in his party flag with an announcement in this regard likely on January 23. It is also the birth anniversary day of late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Not a cakewalk
However, patching up with the MNS might not be too easy for the BJP and vice versa. Raj Thackeray, during the General Elections, had launched an intense attack on the BJP leadership, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Thackeray had urged citizens to vote against the BJP for "Modi-Shah mukt Bharat" (to dislodge Modi and Shah from power). Also, it would be tough for the BJP to justify its pact with the MNS, especially after the ED notice to Thackeray in a land deal.
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