Shiv Sena’s decision to support Droupadi Murmu, an open door from Uddhav Thackeray to BJP
Through his decision on Droupadi Murmu, Uddhav Thackeray would want to subtly convey that the Sena-BJP relationship is still an open-ended affair.
In the end, political pressure was what led the Shiv Sena to support Droupadi Murmu for president of the NDA on Monday. Although Sena president Uddhav Thackeray insisted that he was not being pressured by his MLAs, it is well known that Sena had few options available to it after the recent rebellion that resulted in the fall of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government that it led. The Sena was wounded and weak as a result of this rebellion.
13 of the party’s 18 surviving MPs had gathered on Monday at Thackeray’s house to “beg” him to support Murmu for president and pave the way for a potential reconciliation with the BJP and the party’s defection of Eknath Shinde.
In a letter to Thackeray sent last week, party MP Rahul Shewale urged the Sena to back Murmu. The MP’s letter to the Sena head was a blatant sign that the tiger’s stripes were quickly fading and that party members were no longer frightened to stand up and express their minds in a party where the Thackerays are rarely, if ever, questioned. After the recent uprising, Thackeray has already been treading carefully; any attempt on his part to ignore the feelings of his MPs would have revealed more cracks.
According to sources, Thackeray’s decision to give in to his MPs on Murmu sends a bigger message, namely that he is anxious to retain friendly ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and mend fences with the Centre.Thackeray would want to subtly convey that the Sena-BJP relationship is still an open-ended affair.
Defending the Sena’s decision to back Murmu, a senior leader said, “When a tribal woman candidate is projected for the first time (for the post of President), why would anybody object? Any attempt to oppose the decision will not go well amongst the tribals of Maharashtra.”
The leader went on to admit that the party had “limited options”.
“On the one hand, Murmu is a knowledgeable and experienced tribal leader. On the other hand, the opposition candidate is Yashwant Sinha. There is no shared opinion on Sinha, not even among the opposition. Why then should the Sena back him?
A Sena leader claimed that Thackeray made a wise decision by backing Murmu and added, “In politics, you don’t slam doors for life. Who is able to foretell the future?
The BJP applauds Thackeray’s choice to back Murmu. There are no lasting allies or foes in politics, according to a state-level BJP official. Even the BJP’s top officials would not favor breaking up ties with the Thackerays. According to party insiders, state and central BJP officials have sternly cautioned the cadre not to target Thackeray in meetings of the core committee. Aaditya Thackeray’s name was also left from the list of MLAs whose disqualification the BJP was requesting.
According to a BJP general secretary, the central leadership will support the Sena if it agrees to support the Shinde-led rebels and form an alliance with the party. After all, all that is necessary is for the PM and Thackeray to speak on the phone or meet in person.
