5 times Shiv Sena said absurd things about ally, BJP
Technically, politics and its absurdity can be perfectly summed up in this idiom - you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, and nobody gets hurt. But the same doesn't apply on the cat and mouse relationship between BJP and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Their alliance is anything but stable, a gist of which you shall see in the following 5 instances.
"Modi is on world tour, Shah on a domestic one"
Hours before Amit Shah's meeting with ally Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Saamna (the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena) mocked the BJP's outreach programme 'Sampark for Samarthan.' Making fun of Modi and Shah, it said that the global outreach programme is the one where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a world tour and Shah on a domestic one.
"Biggest Political enemy"
You read it right! Just a few days back, Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena MP asserted that his party was the biggest political rival of the BJP. His overestimation of Shiv Sena didn't end there. He claimed that because Sena was the main political opponent, the BJP is trying to weaken it. "The Sena's radical Hinduism would prove problematic for the BJP," he said.
"Take it or Leave it"
Shiv Sena knows it is a troublesome ally, but it also knows BJP doesn't have the numbers, so their games continue. Its tussle with the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis escalated in October 2017, so much so that a Saamna editorial offered a 'take it or leave it' deal. "Theek lage toh dekho, warna chod do" (see if it's fine, otherwise leave it), it said.
"There would be an earthquake"
Rest assured, neither the BJP nor Shiv Sena shall quit the alliance unless they have something better. So what do they do? They try and undermine each other. One such case was a threat issued by none other than Sanjay Raut. In June last year, he said Sena would trigger an "earthquake" in July, in other words - they will withdraw from the alliance. Did they? No!
"Don't take people for granted"
After Fadnavis became the CM in 2014, Sena locked horns with him making sure the elephant in the room wasn't overlooked. "The new government is like a newly-wed woman who initially pleases her mother-in-law. In this case, the mother-in-law is the people of Maharashtra. You cannot take people for granted," said the Saamna editorial. With 2019 elections approaching, we know the elephant would only grow bigger.
