Page 13 - The Indian EYE 070122

OP-ED JULY 01, 2022 | The Indian Eye 13

Maharashtra drama and

Sena in trouble

Views and opinions from the top commentators in Indian media

JP had Sena on the backfoot
even before all this. When the
Btwo struck an assembly pre-
poll alliance for the first time in 1990,
BJP won 42 seats with 10.7% vote
share while Sena won 52 seats with
15.9% vote share. By 2019 while Sena
was still in the same zone – 56 seats
and 16.4% vote share (behind NCP’s
16.7%) – BJP had 105 seats with 25.7%
vote share. The “Hindu Hriday Sam-
rat” title had also left the Sena lead-
er. Congress is finding its vote share
gobbled by Congress-looking parties,
but a BJP-looking party is finding it
difficult to survive the BJP juggernaut.
Today’s Thackeray still says
“Garv se kaho hum Hindu hain” but
simultaneously tries to strike mod-
erate notes. What if too few of his
party leaders and cadres have been
onboarded in this transition? If Bal
Thackeray’s strong bond with Sainiks
has been left behind along with his
“tod-fod” politics, this gentrification
may end up costing Uddhav’s Sena
very dear. The very alliance that got Congress leader Bhai Jagtap with party supporters stage a protest over Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s probe against party leader Rahul Gandhi
him the coveted CMship may be his in connection with the National Herald case, outside Raj Bhavan, in Mumbai on Thursday. (ANI)
undoing, with accommodations made
for NCP-Congress alienating many
Sainiks. At least this is the narrative vendra Fadnavis, still smarting from who have lost their homes, their crops the notion of Muslim representation
Shinde has galvanised, by claiming being dethroned by the MVA, and and their self-respect. is politically played out, especially in
that his band would never betray consumed by the desire for regaining -- Mrinal Pande, The Indian Express relation to the much-talked-about
Balasaheb’s Hindutva for the sake of his lost throne. The great strength of slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.
power. However, the Maharashtra the camp supporting Shinde, as we Muslims and BJP Muslim representation, we must
drama plays out, Uddhav’s version of all know, is the north’s demographic note, is one of the most insufficiently
Sena is in deep trouble. strength — numbers, the immea- he Bharatiya Janata Party’s analyzed political phenomena. There
surable human mass that BJP-ruled reluctance to nominate Mus- is a set formula to measure Muslim
-- Editorial, The Times of India
states hold, ready to pulverize the en- Tlim leaders to contest the Ra- representation, which is always em-
The Big Battle emy who snatched away India’s finan- jya Sabha election is a relatively new ployed almost uncritically. We are
cial capital successfully. phenomenon. It is well-known that told that there is an intrinsic rela-
he battle for the heart of Maha- The Maharashtra dissidents en- the BJP does not prefer to give tick- tionship between Muslim legislators
rashtra unfolds before us like a joying themselves at someone else’s ets to its Muslim leaders in Lok Sabha and Muslim communities. Hence, if
Tscene out of the Greco Roman expense, in five-star luxury surround- and assembly elections. This move is the total Muslim population of the
wars. On one side, we have the some- ed by misery, devastation, land ero- always justified in the name of ‘win- country is divided by the number of
what battle-weary combined forces sion and death, are a metaphor, a nability’. However, this has not been elected Muslim MPs and MLAs, we
of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha symbol and sign of our times. They the case with the Rajya Sabha polls so might be able to reveal the exact level
Vikas Aghadi; on the other, Eknath point to the borders that have been far. Many senior Muslim leaders from of Muslim representation or under-
Shinde, the mighty dissident from the drawn between the common citizens the BJP — from Sikander Bakht to representation.
Shiv Sena with his swelling band of and the political class they vote for. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi — have repre- -- Hilal Ahmed, The Telegraph (India)
brothers, claiming that the coalition The millions that are being squan- sented the party in the upper House.
that the Sena had made with Sharad dered on people’s representatives In fact, the Rajya Sabha has been Every week, we look at what the top
Pawar’s NCP and Sonia Gandhi’s who are defying their given mandate, treated as a safe passage to induct commentators in the Indian media are
Congress was unholy. Though it is be- could have been at the service of the Muslim faces in Parliament. This un- talking about and bring to you a slice
ing publicly denied, strong support is state’s disaster management depart- precedented political move is very rel- of their opinions and comments
coming from the BJP headed by De- ment to help the people of Assam evant. It underlines the ways in which

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