Signs of fissures emerge in Maharashtra’s tripartite coalition
The Hindu
Shiv Sena’s frustration with NCP, and its weakening hold over BMC point to a re-alignment with the BJP, say analysts
Less than 20 months after the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress was stitched in November 2019, there are indications that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, could be looking to re-ally his Sena with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Political observers and sources point out the recent sequence of events beginning with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on June 8, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s letter last week to the Chief Minister on restoring ties with the BJP, and Mr. Thackeray’s reversal (on Tuesday) of senior NCP leader and State Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad’s decision to hand over 100 flats in MHADA buildings to the Tata Memorial Hospital for kin of cancer-stricken patients. Whether or not this affects the coalition, observers say the question of Sena’s survival in Mumbai in the crucial Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC) civic poll in February 2022, and the BJP’s need of regional allies at a time when several NDA partners have deserted its fold, strongly point to a possible renewal of a “mutually dependent” partnership in the State.More Related News