The Universe itself appears to be conspiring to make Shiv Sena the butt of a great many jokes. To add insult to its many injuries, Maharashtra Congress is advising Sonia Gandhi to not enter into an alliance with the party, Republic TV has reported.
https://twitter.com/republic/status/1197083543022780417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This comes after Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Modi in the Parliament. He also wrote a letter where he appealed to Narendra Modi to take measures for the welfare of farmers. In the letter, the NCP supremo wrote, “I have collected data on crop damage from two districts, but damage because of excessive rains extends to rest of Maharashtra, including Marathwada and Vidarbha. I am collecting details and information regarding the same, which should be sent to you at the earliest.”
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1197052632025579520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
As it so happens, the meeting between Sharad Pawar and Narendra Modi has ruffled many feathers. The Congress is upset because ‘timing of the meeting was wrong’ given the crisis in Maharashtra over government formation. The Shiv Sena is deeply troubled as well and is now saying no formal announcement was made regarding its exit from NDA. Funnily, the declaration was made by Sanjay Raut, a person who reminded people every twenty-four hours that the next Chief Minister will be from Shiv Sena. This declaration by Raut was despite the fact that they did not attend the NDA meet ahead of the Winter session of the parliament. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant also resigned as Union Minister after the alliance broke up. In short, the Shiv Sena did a Kejriwal right there, in other words, a U-Turn.
Read: A tale of two Sanjays: The Maharashtra conundrum
It must be very difficult to be a Congress sympathizer right now. The ‘intellectual’ class was urging the Congress quite openly to ally with the Shiv Sena in order to keep BJP out of power. Attempts were also being made to secularize Balasaheb Thackeray’s party. But as it so happened, the Congress party believes that an alliance with Shiv Sena will dampen its electoral prospects significantly.
If it were difficult to be an ‘intellectual’ Congress sympathizer, it is an even worse time to be a Shiv Sainik. The party first dumped its traditional alliance partner over a silly demand for the Chief Ministerial position when it has only 56 seats in the Assembly while the BJP has over a hundred. Then, it was willing to sacrifice its core ideology in order to ally with the NCP and Congress. Despite making so many sacrifices, both the opposition parties still remain non-committal on an alliance with Shiv Sena. It appears that Uddhav Thakeray dug a giant hole for the BJP and then proceeded to jump straight into it himself.
Thus, we are at a situation where the Congress doesn’t wish to ally with the Shiv Sena. The Shiv Sena is desperate for an alliance with NCP and the Congress but both of them remain non-committal. Now, Sharad Pawar meets Prime Minister Modi and the Congress is upset about it as well. In short, the Dance of Democracy is truly underway and the Maharashtra Tragicomedy has intensified manifold.