As even the worst rivals scramble to extend support to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi in the quaint hope of partaking an iota of the stupendous public goodwill that the new entrant has earned in a mere 11 months of its existence; in another power circle, it appears, pillar-after-pillar is falling even before the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has erected the castle of his immense political ambitions.
In a latest, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has advised the Gujarat chief minister to not be too preachy about Maharashtra and instead mind his own business - in not exactly the same words and yet in a tone no less acerbic.
At his mega rally in Mumbai on Sunday which was attended by over three lakh people, Modi had hit out at the state's unstable politics, saying, "In these years, Gujarat had 14 Chief Ministers. But in Maharashtra, 26 Chief Ministers were elected. Now tell me, what kind of politics would this state be having?"
Responding to this, Thackeray Junior - who recently got back his mojo and came out of his iconic late father's shadow by showing vocal rivals in the party, including veteran Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, their place at the party's Dussehra rally - wrote in the party's mouthpiece Saamna that lakhs of Gujaratis choose to make Maharashtra their home and that many Maharashtrians are on the Forbes list of the richest Indians.
In a curt one-liner which sounded more like caution that advice, Thackeray told the Gujarat chief minister: "Don't worry about Maharashtra."
Shiv Sena's equation with Modi has been far from cordial. The party was disappointed at not being invited to Modi's rally at the Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds on Sunday. This was exacerbated with the fact that Modi did not make even a mention of Thackeray in his speech.
Even though party president Rajnath Singh showered lavish praises on Sena founder Bal Thackeray, Modi's silence on the iconic leader piqued the Sena no end.
Referring to the impressive crowd at the rally venue, Modi had said: "No one has had the fortune to witness such large crowds in Mumbai. There is a sea of humanity as far as I can see." According to political observers, this comment was a dig at Sena, whose public gatherings are usually crowd-pullers.
Even when the BJP had announced Modi as its PM nominee in September, though Shiv Sena had backed its ally's decision, it was not without the party making it clear that Modi was not its first choice. Sena said it would have preferred Sushma Swaraj.
Ever since the saffron party cleared Modi's name to be the party's PM nominee riding roughshod over party veteran LK Advani's long-standing PM ambitions, the party had to witness its long-term crucial allies frittering away.
Janata Dal (United) anticipated Modi's rise as the party's PM nominee and broke the 17-year-old alliance with the saffron party on June 16. In a press statement, the JD(U) said: "It (the Goa announcement of the chairmanship of the electoral campaign committee of the BJP) has not left a shadow of doubt that this is a mere ceremonial prelude to his (Modi's) nomination as the PM candidate. All efforts within the BJP to suggest care and moderation in the process were smothered by the authoritarian cult and imperious disdain."
Earlier, in its national council meeting in April, the party called for a candidate (to lead the National Democratic Alliance) with "acceptable high secular credentials with no rough edges or divisive characteristics".
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's going away came as a shock for the BJP since together the BJP and JD(U) had emerged as an unsurpassable force in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Of the 40 LS seats here, in 2009, the JD(U) had contested 25 seats and won 20, while the BJP had won 12 of the remaining 15.
More recently, the AIADMK announced its decision to go it alone in 2014 LS polls. Making its chief J. Jayalalithaa's prime ministerial ambitions clear, it was resolved at a general meeting of the party in Chennai that there have been PMs from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, etc, and this is the time when somebody from Tamil Nadu must lead the country.
Jayalalithaa said a curt 'no' to the recent overtures of Modi who met her many times in the recent past and she refused to enter into a pre-poll truck with the saffron party. Jayalalithaa knows she has very strong poll prospects in the state and wants to dictate terms with whoever needs her support in the post-poll scenario. With an impressive number in the Lok Sabha, she can easily lead a Third Front to government formation.
Former PM Deve Gowda also backed her claim to prime ministership recently.
In August, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) made it clear that it would tolerate no criticism of Modi. RSS pointsperson for BJP, Suresh Soni, who was instrumental in getting Modi appointed as campaign chief of the BJP at the Goa national executive, told RSS office-bearers in Lucknow that the people of the country had taken Modi to be their prime minister and they were now duty-bound to support him and bring good governance back. The RSS asked the BJP to act tough on leaders who criticise Modi.
With Lok Sabha elections still a good five months away and political equations in the country fast changing with curious developments in Delhi heralding the rise of an alternative politics while many regional players exploring the possibility of a Third Front, it remains to be seen if Modi's being at the helm of affairs helps the BJP improve its tally in the LS or lets important allies fritter away thus resulting in the cumulative loss of the party's prospects in the Lok Sabha.
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