Sudheendra kulkarni attacked: shiv sena wanted to show it still rules streets of mumbai

There was nothing new in the Shiv Sena’s anti-Pakistan rhetoric. The way Sena activists attacked Sudheendra Kulkarni for organising a function to release the book Neither a Hawk, Nor a Dove:

An Insider Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy, written by former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, shows the party’s desperation. It was certainly not a spontaneous form

of protest, though Sena described it as a non-violent demonstration. It appears to be a well thought-out strategy to keep flexing muscles to match its anti-Pakistan rhetoric and prove its

militant Hindutva ideology in more competitive ways. With the BMC elections round the corner, the Sena also wants to establish that it still rules the streets of Mumbai. The black oil attack

followed immediately after Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert was forcefully cancelled at the behest of the Sena. The organisers didn’t go ahead with the programme despite an

assurance from the BJP Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of protection. The state government received a lot of flak for the cancellation and before the dust and din over Ghulam Ali’s event

settled, an emboldened Sena issued another call for cancellation of the book release function. When Kulkarni declined to oblige, Sena activists indulged in a “non-violent” form of

demonstration by smearing him with black paint. The incident took a new turn when CM Fadnavis gave instructions to provide protection to the author, organiser and the invitees to ensure that

the function wasn’t disrupted. The book was released despite the threats and drama, and brought to the fore long-standing simmering discontent between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. The paint

attack has a subtext of a prolonged battle of wits going on between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over dominating Maharashtra politics. Since the last assembly elections in 2014, the BJP has

emerged stronger than the Sena in terms of numerical strength in the state legislative assembly. The Sena is yet to adjust to the new reality in the state polity. Due to the Narendra Modi

magic, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the assembly and the Sena lost its big brother position in the alliance. Actually, the Sena had performed well when compared to its past

performance but that was no solace since the BJP had outperformed it. The Sena was so upset that it preferred to sit in the opposition rather than join hands with the BJP to form the

coalition government in the state. It could not get over the feeling of being let down by the Modi government when its representative was given an insignificant portfolio in the Union

government. It later reluctantly joined the BJP government due to pressure from the cadre and newly elected MLAs. However, the divide between the Sena and the BJP leaders at the state level

is widening while the BJP leadership is doing very little to assuage the feelings of an old political ally in Maharashtra. The Sena, which had appeared to be a more sober and mature

political entity before the last Lok Sabha elections, has suddenly changed its stance. It is now resorting to the old technique of intimidation. The growing intolerance across the country

suites the Sena to take up a more aggressive Hindutva position and even criticise the BJP for not adopting hard-line policies in dealing with Pakistan. Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray had

also used anti-Pakistan rhetoric to secure wider support. His kind of militant Hindutva was not even palatable to the hawks within the BJP, but the benevolent Atal Bihari Vajpayee and a

shrewd LK Advani provided him enough space to play without hurting the interests of the saffron alliance. With the BJP now in a much more powerful position than ever before, Uddhav Thackeray

finds the going tough. The Sena has very limited manipulative powers now since the BJP can run the government on its own in Delhi and also run the state government without the Sena by

depending on unconditional support by NCP. The forthcoming elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are uppermost in the minds of Sena strategists. They are more worried

about retaining their hold over Mumbai rather than think about the future of Sena-BJP relations. The relations between the two are so strained that they will not  fight Kalyan Dombivli

Municipal Corporation elections together.  Sena strategists are well aware that to win Mumbai on their own is not easy and it cannot be done by merely depending on Marathi voters. So to keep

other Hindutva voters on their side, the party has been positioning itself as the main pro-Hindutva party which is opposed to anything Pakistani — be it cricket, music, drama or a book

release. With memories of the Mumbai attack by the Kasab-gang still fresh, the Sena wants to capitalise on people’s anger against such acts of terror on innocent civilians. The Ghulam Ali

episode indicates that the veto power the Sena has accorded to itself over the years is still intact in the city of Mumbai. The Sena appears to be gripped by two kinds of fears — it is

scared of the BJP’s plan to expand its base by way of launching “Shatpratishat BJP”. The Sena could not handle the state BJP which has become more aggressive after the Lok Sabha elections.

The Sena also feels that its performance may be affected due to the negative perception of people about “Acche Din” promised by Narendra Modi. Like Sharad Pawar, Uddhav is trying to protect

the Sena from an anti-incumbency factor. Pawar had also started distancing NCP from the Congress due to the failures of the UPA II dispensation. Since its early days, the Sena draws power

from the streets of Mumbai and the same strategy is being worked out now. Its nuisance value does not depend on how many MLAs the party has, but from its power to rule the streets of Mumbai.

The question is: Will Uddhav pull the BJP-Sena government down by walking out of the alliance due to serious differences. He showed his resentment by going out of Mumbai, the day Prime

Minister Narendra Modi had engagements in the city. Uddhav would like to follow in Pawar’s footsteps while dealing with the BJP. Pawar used to put pressure on the Congress to safeguard

interests of his party. Balasaheb used to adopt a similar tactic when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and this tendency is the hallmark of coalition politics. In the changed

circumstances, Uddhav will have to be more circumspect in handling such a volatile situation. _The author is columnist, author, artist_