The current slanging match between actor Kangana Ranaut and the Shiv Sena leadership is the most visible example of the underlying antagonism between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena. The fact that the Union Home Ministry has provided Ms. Ranaut with Y plus security has convinced many that she is acting as a surrogate for the BJP. Ms. Ranaut’s remarks comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Maharashtra government to the Taliban, and leading Shiv Sena figures threatening her against returning to Mumbai, and the Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolishing parts of her office premises demonstrate how deep this rift has become.
Split in alliance
The uneasy alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena came under strain following the last Assembly election in which the BJP won close to twice the number of seats compared to the Shiv Sena. It refused to relinquish its claim to the Chief Minister’s position as the senior partner in the coalition. This was a blow in particular to the Thackerays who had hoped that one of them or their nominee would become the Chief Minister.
Government formation may have been the immediate cause of the split but the falling out between the two parties was inevitable because of their inherent contradictions. It was a miracle that these contradictions did not lead to a break-up much earlier. Their commitment to the ideology of Hindutva, which had acted as the glue that kept their alliance intact, while superficially similar was fundamentally different.
At the base of these contradictions lay the fact that while the BJP is a party with national ambitions, the Shiv Sena is a regional party confined to Maharashtra and drew its principal inspiration from a ‘sons of the soil’ ideology. It started as an anti-south Indian movement but then morphed first into a movement against all non-Maharashtrian immigrants, especially from U.P. and Bihar, and then into an anti-Muslim one influenced by the rise of Hindutva and drawing inspiration from Shivaji’s campaign against the Mughals.
The Shiv Sena’s adoption of Hindutva facilitated its tie-up with the BJP and paved the way for a political alliance. However, the inherent contradictions between the BJP and Shiv Sena continued to persist. The Shiv Sena was primarily interested in reviving the past glory of the Marathas and increasing employment opportunities for the Marathi manus , while the BJP’s basic goal was consolidating the Hindu vote behind itself across the nation.
The BJP’s national aspirations could only be fulfilled if it kept its base in the Hindi heartland intact. The Shiv Sena’s periodic anti-north Indian eruptions could put this goal in jeopardy. The Sena on its part could not abjure its ‘sons of the soil’ ideology without running the risk of losing its base, especially among the Marathas.
Hold on Maratha constituency
This has become more imperative for the Shiv Sena as its hold on the Maratha constituency is already under challenge by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that garnered almost as many seats in the last elections as the Shiv Sena. The two may be coalition partners now but there is no guarantee that this relationship will last, especially since they compete for the same caste base. Thus, one cannot rule out a falling out between the two before the next Assembly election. Therefore, the Shiv Sena cannot renounce its role as the standard bearer of Marathi honour lest the NCP or breakaway factions of the Shiv Sena itself outflank it on this score.
The contradictory impulses of the the BJP and Shiv Sena are clearly on display in the Kangana Ranaut case where both Ms. Ranaut and the BMC appear to be merely pawns of the two parties. Therefore, it would not be wrong to predict that the estrangement between them has now reached a point of no return displaying clearly their fundamentally conflicting goals.
Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Relations, Michigan State University
