NEW DELHI: Within five months of the landslide in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is faced with assertive allies seeking to dictate terms.
The Shiv Sena’s maximalist posturing precipitated a complete communication breakdown between Matoshree and the BJP brass.
The ripple effect is seemingly making a smaller ally like the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) belligerent to the extent of threatening to go solo in the assembly polls.
In Bihar, NDA partner JD(U) is also keeping a close watch on Maharashtra’s political developments, while the state slated to go to polls next year in November. The BJP and JD(U) have already had frosty ties in the past.
Even till recently, there was an undercurrent of tension in the relations between the two allies and the JD(U) is yet to join the Union Cabinet despite pre-poll seat adjustment with the BJP.
In Sena’s case, the BJP shut the window of communication after some leaders from Udhav Thackeray’s party started setting terms of negotiation, which only worsened as personal attacks were launched against BJP’s top leadership.
In Jharkhand, Chief Minister Raghubar Das is being seen within the BJP to be “over-confident”.
“Das favours going alone since AJSU too is belligerent with its demand for 17 Assets despite the party having contested only eight in 2014 in the pre-poll alliance,” said a senior BJP leader.
However, the BJP is wary that AJSU’s exit from the NDA would send out a wrong political message.
“We will be able to get the AJSU on board on reasonable terms to ensure that the NDA stays with strong social engineering while pitched against the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance,” he added.