MUMBAI: After Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inducted 10 Shiv Sena members into his Cabinet on Friday, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was expecting that BJP’s main rival Congress would get the post of Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, instead of the NCP that has just as good a chance. It is a sign of the times to come where Shiv Sena would increasingly try to influence Fadnavis’s decisions.
Fadnavis may have succeeded in bringing the warring Shiv Sena onboard on his terms, but it will be a challenge for him to make the alliance work as the two parties hold different positions on a number of issues. Fadnavis will have a hard time convincing Shiv Sena on three important projects:
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen on completing the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) within the stipulated time. The corridor runs through a big portion of the Konkan, western Maharashtra and Marathwada regions. The Shiv Sena has taken a stringent stand against land acquisition in Konkan for this project.
Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project
A nuclear power project proposed again at Jaitapur in Konkan is another pricky issue between the parties. The BJP believes that the project has the capacity to make the state self-reliant in the power sector and the first of its three reactors should become functional by 2017. Uddhav has been opposing the project since it was started in 2006 citing health hazards of radiation as his objection.
Shiv Sena has won 11 out of 19 Assembly seats in Konkan because of its resistance to DMIC land acquisition and Jaitapur project. The party is in no mood to lose its voter base by diluting its stand on these issues. On the other hand, Fadnavis will be under pressure from Modi to complete these projects on time.
Statehood to Vidarbha
The BJP and Shiv Sena are likely to be at loggerheads again on the issue of granting statehood to the undeveloped Vidarbha region. The BJP has announced that it is in favour of creating of small states as a policy and will definitely try to give statehood to Vidarbha. On the contrary, Shiv Sena is a staunch advocate of undivided Maharashtra. Shiv Sena argues that Vidarbha, rich in natural mines and forests, could be developed and brought at par with rest of the state. The BJP’s counter argument is that a Vidarbha state could be economically viable and will reduce burden on the rest of Maharashtra.
On the political front, however, both the parties are on the same side. For them, the main opponent is Congress not the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). A senior BJP leader said they did not wish to punish the guilty in the `26,000 crore irrigation scam that rocked the state during the Congress-NCP regime. “We will conduct inquiry in this scam but it will not reach its logical end,” he said. Senior NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare are accused of graft in this case.
The leader pointed to the appointment of Sunil Manohar, a native of Nagpur, as the state’s Advocate General. “The Manohars have good family relations with the Pawars. His father V R Manohar and brother Shashank Manohar are always on good terms with Sharad Pawar. On the one hand, the government will frame charges against Ajit Pawar in the scam, but on the other hand, it will ask Manohar to go slow in this case. Shiv Sena will not oppose the move,” he said.
Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam said the government will work smoothly keeping aside the differences between the two parties. “Whatever happened between us is in the past. Now we have come together again. We will give good governance,” he said.
Fadnavis was candid in admitting that there were differences over some issues with the Shiv Sena. “We have come together as a government but we will be firm on our respective party’s stand on several issues,” he said.