The Shiv Sena on Tuesday formally joined hands with Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel — a known baiter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — in an effort to stick it to long-time ally BJP in the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. This is the third unlikely partnership between two political entities to be going up against Modi and the BJP, and the last two are looking to emulate the performance of the first one: Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad.
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The Nitish-Lalu effect
Arch-rivals Nitish Kumar of the JD-U and Lalu Prasad of the RJD had in 2015 joined hands to counter the influence of the BJP in the Bihar Assembly elections. The result was a resounding victory for the combine, defying the expectations of most pollsters and psephologists. It was considered a strong reply to the BJP, which had been tom-tomming the political influence of Modi on the masses.
It is this success that is the target of the SP and the Congress, which have allied together in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the upcoming elections there. Both parties may not have performed well on their own: The SP would have to battle the anti-incumbency factor and a BSP that is going all out to return to power, not to mention the growing influence of the BJP, while the Congress has been losing its clout increasingly in the state.
But why Shiv Sena and Hardik Patel?
The Shiv Sena has been a long-time ally of the BJP in Maharashtra. However, it has been seeing itself being constantly sidelined by its alliance partner, which is in power both in the Centre and the state. This has led to the Sena starting to harbour ill-feelings towards the BJP.
In an effort to show some more strength, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has now roped in Hardik Patel — the man who gave the BJP and Modi a tough time in his home state Gujarat by campaigning for reservation in education and jobs for Patels — to woo the Gujarati community in Mumbai, ahead of the BMC polls.
It remains to be seen whether the SP-Congress and the Shiv Sena-Hardik Patel alliances manage to successfully counter Modi and the BJP's influence in their respective political spheres.
