Cong & BJP face threat of playing second fiddle
In what holds ominous portends for Congress and BJP, a political reconfiguration in Maharashtra is increasingly looking real.
By Devesh Kumar, ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: In what holds ominous portends for Congress and BJP, a political reconfiguration in Maharashtra is increasingly looking real. NCP leader Sharad Pawar held a meeting with Shiv Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Tuesday. Sources in the Sena claimed that ���process of political realignment has been put on fast track.���
The Sena is already negotiating a deal with Peasants and Workers Party. The outfit has several pockets of influence in the state. The development must be distressing for the Congress and the BJP as the state accounts for 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second largest number after Uttar Pradesh. ���The alliance has the potential to create a winner-takes-it-all situation in Maharashtra,��� said a leader who is familiar with the negotiations.
Sharad Pawar and the SP leadership have been plotting a political plan to isolate the two leading national players and create a wider space for regional parties after polls. Although the BJP is keen on being part of the proposed Maharashtra grand alliance, both Sena and NCP are lukewarm to the idea.
The happenings in Maharashtra comes at a time when the Congress is struggling to work out seat-sharing arrangement with its allies in states. While the UP alliance is unlikely to take off, there is admission that things could go the BJP way in Karnataka if it fails to strike a deal with the JD(S). In Bihar, Ram Vilas Paswan is looking for a larger profile and that is sure to cause problems in the RJD-led alliance.
The Pawar-SP bonhomie and the proximity between the two Maratha satraps is certain to embolden regional players to assert their independent identities. With both national parties just not having the depth to win the coming polls on their own, these leaders will decide on shape of things in Delhi.
The Congress, which is overtaken by hubris thanks to the projections by its megaphones in the media, had recently rejected suggestions of allies to fight the coming round under the UPA banner. The ���we-can-strike-out-on-our-own��� vanity has only reduced the trust quotient within the ruling side.
The Congress has been on a decline in Maharashtra. In the assembly elections held in 2004, NCP emerged as a bigger player but had to allow its alliance partner to lead the government. The Congress could shore up its numbers only by roping in Mr Narayan Rane. But in all the by-polls held since then, NCP has fared better than the Congress consolidating its base in Maratha dominated western Maharashtra. In other regions, too, it has increased its presence.
The Sena is already negotiating a deal with Peasants and Workers Party. The outfit has several pockets of influence in the state. The development must be distressing for the Congress and the BJP as the state accounts for 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second largest number after Uttar Pradesh. ���The alliance has the potential to create a winner-takes-it-all situation in Maharashtra,��� said a leader who is familiar with the negotiations.
Sharad Pawar and the SP leadership have been plotting a political plan to isolate the two leading national players and create a wider space for regional parties after polls. Although the BJP is keen on being part of the proposed Maharashtra grand alliance, both Sena and NCP are lukewarm to the idea.
The happenings in Maharashtra comes at a time when the Congress is struggling to work out seat-sharing arrangement with its allies in states. While the UP alliance is unlikely to take off, there is admission that things could go the BJP way in Karnataka if it fails to strike a deal with the JD(S). In Bihar, Ram Vilas Paswan is looking for a larger profile and that is sure to cause problems in the RJD-led alliance.
The Pawar-SP bonhomie and the proximity between the two Maratha satraps is certain to embolden regional players to assert their independent identities. With both national parties just not having the depth to win the coming polls on their own, these leaders will decide on shape of things in Delhi.
The Congress, which is overtaken by hubris thanks to the projections by its megaphones in the media, had recently rejected suggestions of allies to fight the coming round under the UPA banner. The ���we-can-strike-out-on-our-own��� vanity has only reduced the trust quotient within the ruling side.
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The Congress has been on a decline in Maharashtra. In the assembly elections held in 2004, NCP emerged as a bigger player but had to allow its alliance partner to lead the government. The Congress could shore up its numbers only by roping in Mr Narayan Rane. But in all the by-polls held since then, NCP has fared better than the Congress consolidating its base in Maratha dominated western Maharashtra. In other regions, too, it has increased its presence.
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