MUMBAI: Shiv Sena’s renewed love for the Ram Mandir is more connected to building possibilities for reconciliation with the BJP than pursuing the Hindutva agenda, political observers in Maharashtra said.
The Sena was always known for its contradictory political stands. While displaying this character for the past four years, it managed to criticise the BJP all the while being its junior partner in the government. Now, ahead of elections, it is the compulsion to find a suitable alibi to go along with the BJP for which the Hindutva plank perfectly suffices the need, said senior journalist Abhay Deshpande.
A recent opinion poll showed that the Sena can get 11 per cent votes while the BJP will get 38 per cent votes in the Lok Sabha elections if both the parties contest independently. In the 2014 Assembly election, Sena’s vote share was 19 per cent while that of the BJP was 27 per cent.
Senior journalist Bhau Torsekar says this loss of 8 per cent votes is due to Sena’s constant bickering with the BJP. “Raj Thackeray’s MNS lost its vote base to the Shiv Sena because it kept targeting (Sena chief) Uddhav (Thackeray) while he was busy strengthening the party. The same is happening to the Shiv Sena and the BJP now,” he explained.
The fear of losing out to the BJP will compel the Sena to go along with its ally of over 25 years and Hindutva is the perfect glue of which Ram Mandir is the symbol, Torsekar said.No wonder that on Dussehra, Uddhav announced that he would visit Ayodhya on November 25.