Mumbai: Almost a month after he addressed the Latur rally and asked BJP booth workers to knock out alliances (read Shiv Sena) which didn't want to support the BJP, Amit Shah visited Maharashtra again on Saturday. Only this time, both the tone and the target of the BJP president had changed.
Critics are pinning the reason for the growing anxiety in the BJP camp to the uncertainty of an alliance with Shiv Sena. There is also a message for Maratha strongman and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who has been consistently been speaking against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This time, Shah gave his booth workers 'Target Baramati', thereby telling Pawar that the BJP will hit him on his home turf. An angry Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) immediately hit out at the BJP, asking whether Modi, Shah or Devendra Fadnavis will contest from Baramati.
It is no secret that Baramati has been the Pawars' home turf for almost three decades now. It is impregnable and is at present represented by his daughter Supriya Sule.
It is the NCP's 'safe seat' to the extent that no other party counts that seat in its kitty during the poll calculations. By challenging Pawar on his turf, the BJP's message is clear — it hasn't taken kindly to Pawar's targeting of PM Modi. For the last few days, Pawar has hit out at the PM for “failing to maintain the dignity and decorum of the office”.
During this speech of Shah, when he addressed the party workers of Pune, Baramati and Maval constituencies, the natural targets were the NCP and the Congress.
He constantly referred to the corruption in Pawar's government even though Pawar was in the Centre during the Congress-NCP state government. He also referred to Ajit Pawar's infamously insensitive remarks about drought-hit farmers. "The idea was to pep up the booth workers, as many of these areas are traditional strongholds of the Congress and NCP," a senior BJP functionary said.
He also set a target of winning 45 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. "I want my party workers to win me 45 seats from the state, and to achieve that we will have to win Baramati seat. If we win Baramati, the number 45 can be achieved," the BJP chief said.
There was very little mention of ‘mahagathbandhan’. Shah’s primary targets were the Congress and NCP, particularly 'Rahul baba' and 'Sharadchandraji'.
What is interesting is that there was no reference to the Shiv Sena, neither in Pune nor in Goa. A month ago, the same party president had launched a frontal attack on the far-right party during his Latur address. He had talked of knocking down the Sena. The statement had widened the rift between the bickering partners. What has changed within a month is the growing anxiety in the BJP camp.
"For the first time, we aren't very sure if the Sena will come with us or not. We have been trying to convince them, but they seem to be hell-bent on breaking the alliance. Their terms and conditions are also difficult for us to understand and accept," a senior BJP leader told CNN News18 on condition of anonymity.
The BJP is acutely aware that it may not be able to gain substantial number of seats for the Lok Sabha elections without the Shiv Sena's support. It is this growing realisation, coupled with the anxiety due to Sena's cold approach, which has upset the saffron party.
Moreover, after Shah's remarks a month ago, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had to make a hush-hush late night visit to New Delhi to appraise the prime minister and Shah of the delicate situation of the alliance in the state. Shah has since refrained from making any adverse comments about the Shiv Sena. In fact, he is known to have told all the party leaders to remain quiet even after Uddhav Thackeray called the 'chowkidar a chor' during his Pandharpur rally recently.
"We have been exercising restraint, even when our top leaders are being targeted," the BJP leader said, adding that it was only the talks between Fadnavis and Uddhav which would take the matter towards a conclusion.
During his Kolhapur visit on February 28, too, Shah is likely to show the same restraint towards the Shiv Sena. The party leadership hopes it will have some concrete direction till then.
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