Post-Lakhimpur Kheri, signs of Shiv Sena gravitating towards Congress
The Hindu
Closer ties may stop BJP from winning civic polls: analysts
The aftermath of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s high-voltage spot visit have seen a subtle shift in Maharashtra’s political alliances within the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition of the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Until recently, the Sena’s chief spokesperson, MP Sanjay Raut, had been ruing the Congress’s failure to lead a coordinated opposition to take on the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre. In June, an editorial in the Saamana, where Mr. Raut is executive editor, had slammed Rahul Gandhi for “failing to provide effective leadership to his party and the United Progressive Alliance”, while speaking of Mr. Modi and the BJP in grudgingly admiring tones.
Yet, all through last week, in editorials and columns, Mr. Raut showered praise on the Gandhi siblings. In his weekly column, Rokhthok, Mr. Raut, condemning Ms. Vadra’s ‘illegal detention’, remarked that one could see shades of Indira Gandhi in Ms. Vadra’s spirited actions in Lakhimpur Kheri.