Is Uddhav Sena Warming Up To Congress Again? AAP's Delhi Loss And Pawar-Shinde Meet Could Be The Reason

Amidst defections to the Eknath Shinde camp and the NCP's inclination towards the ruling Mahayuti, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is in damage control mode.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is jittery — and for good reason. The string of leaders joining the Eknath Shinde camp is growing longer by the week it seems. To worsen matters, Sharad Pawar's NCP is also seemingly leaning towards Eknath Shinde and the ruling Mahayuti. Now, with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections due, the Uddhav Sena is leaving no stone unturned to keep its flock of MLAs and allies together.

What's Happening In Mahayuti?

The Mahayuti alliance is on a rocky path. The Shiv Sena-UBT has been hit by a string of resignations by leaders who are moving to the Eknath Shinde camp. The Shinde camp last week said that 6 MPs of the Thackeray group are in touch with them, a claim dismissed by the former.

Last month, Sena UBT women’s wing leader Rajul Patel and several other party functionaries joined the Shinde camp. Uddhav Sena MLA  Rajan Salvi, who quit the party is slated to join the Shinde camp on Thursday, February 13.  

Worsening matters for the MVA, the Uddhav Sena backed the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi elections instead of its Maharashtra ally Congress. The Congress had accused the AAP of misgovernance in Delhi and fought a bitter battle.

Notably, the Shiv Sena-UBT, the Congress, and the AAP are part of the INDIA bloc.

To top up the list of troubles in Maha Vikas Aghadi, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, awarded the Mahadji Shinde Rashtra Gaurav Puraskar to Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. This riled up the Uddhav camp. MP Sanjay Raut hit out at the award, hinting that the NCP might have had a quid-pro-quo deal with the Shinde sena. "Do you know who gave this award? Such awards given to political leaders are either bought or sold," he said.  

MLA Aaditya Thackeray even said that Sharad Pawar had honoured a person who was against Maharashtra and India. "It is our principle never to honour a person like this [Eknath Shinde]. He [Eknath Shinde] has not just split our party and family but also Maharashtra's spine — industrialisation in the state. Jo Maharashtra drohi hai, woh desh drohi bhi hota hai," he said.

Uddhav Thackeray In Damage Control Mode

The Uddhav Sena is in full damage control mode now. However, its equation with the NCP (Sharad Pawar) doesn't seem to be improving, with leaders issuing caustic remarks against the party.

In order to limit the damage, Uddhav Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray met Rahul Gandhi to cement the Congress's support for the MVA. He also met Arvind Kejriwal. After meeting Kejriwal, he said: "In our hearts and minds, it is very clear — governments come and go, they will come again. But relationships continue and that’s exactly what we came to say. The work Arvind Kejriwal has done in Delhi over the past ten years is known to everyone."

Now, it would be interesting to see whether the Shiv Sena and NCP in the MVA move to bury the hatchet and fight the BMC elections together with the Congress, or if 'Ekla Cholo Re' would be Shiv Sena's motto.