Dominated by the BJP inside and outside the Maharashtra government and its inability to make much impact on the ground appears to have forced the Shiv Sena to flex its muscles on the issue of Marathi chauvinism and Muslims. But its desperate move seems to have backfired, judging by the clamour on Monday for legal action against its MP Sanjay Raut for his provocative article demanding suspension of >voting rights for Muslim s. While some held that the Sena’s latest anti-minority stance highlighted its growing intolerance, political observers argued that it had more to do with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party’s increasing frustration at being rendered a minor force in the BJP-led coalition. Despite the Sena opposing the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Konkan, the NDA government went ahead with agreements with the French collaborator Areva during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Even as the Sena was bargaining for a larger share of power in the Devendra Fadnavis government, Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had toured the drought-affected farmers and promised them succour. However, on Monday, a Saamna editorial took a sceptical view of the Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Yojana launched by the NDA government and asked when the distressed farmers would get actual help.
Political observers see the innocuous ‘vada pav’ protest against irreverent tweets by author Shobhaa De last week and Sena’s provocative stand on appeasement of Muslims as manifestations of the party’s frustrations.
At least two commentators told The Hindu that the timing of Mr. Raut’s article, a day after the Bandra East bypoll voting day, indicated that the piece had more to do with Mr. Raut’s attempt to remain relevant within the Sena.
