Congress feelers to NCP may force BJP, Sena to rework 2019 strategy

THANE: The olive branch offered by Congress to its friend-turned- foe, the NCP, and the Sharad Pawar-led party's sudden aggression against BJP post its recent conclave in Karjat, may have set the cat among the pigeons in the BJP and Shiv Sena camp, with senior leaders rethinking their approach for the 2019 polls.

Strategists feel senior partner BJP, with 122 MLAs in the 288-member state assembly, may have to take a soft approach and accede to demands of its ally Sena and abandon its plans of going solo in the 2019 Lok Sabha and state polls.

The changing political dynamics could also force the Sena, which has 63 MLAs, into a pre-poll arrangement with BJP, failing which it could have to face a stronger opposition and a three-cornered fight in 2019.

Observers said the present social turmoil in Maharashtra and changed equations post-Gujarat polls had created a Catch-22 situation for both BJP and Sena. "It is a predicament. To be or not to be with one another is the question they will have to think hard about," a leader said.

"They have to take a cue from Cong-NCP. The opposition forces have teamed up and are consolidating anti-BJP votes. The fact that Sharad Pawar led the Halla Bol morcha in Nagpur during the legislature's winter session last month is indication of the changing scene. The social upheaval post

Koregaon Bhima

has increased BJP's worries as these parties could come under a single umbrella to defeat it," a political strategist said. He added the Congress has come out clear from its confusion over the issue of alliance with NCP, and former CM Ashok Chavan's statement to TOI on Sunday was a pointer to new realignments.

"The strategy is simple. When we have to fight a war, smaller battles should be overlooked. Similarly, we have decided to forgive and forget the past. NCP was the first party which offered unsolicited support to BJP for forming the government in 2014, but if we have to overthrow BJP we have to consolidate," a leader from the opposition said.

A pollster said the BJP and Sena will have to ensure there is no split in their vote bank. "The BJP has kept Narayan Rane at bay and there are no immediate plans to induct him into the state cabinet as it does not want to antagonise the Sena. It will have to continue with this approach and soft-pedal several issues lest the Sena snap ties," the pollster added.