Why is Shiv Sena opposing the Note Ban Orders of Govt of India ?

Some one asked me in Quora as to why is Shiv Sena opposing the Note Ban Orders of Govt of India.

An added point was whether Uddhav has any accounts in swiss banks forcing him oppose Modi/ BJP.

My response is one need not necessarily hold an illegal bank account abroad to oppose Modi or BJP.

Any politician, who is not associated with BJP, and does not believe in its policies, shall oppose, sometimes one may be right, reasonable, and logical, and at times, it may be simply opposition for sake of opposing and even when one is not sure of one’s own stand.

Here the situation is piquant since Shiv Sena and BJP are allies, share power, and also have almost similar policies and political agenda. Hence, it is strange to often see them quarreling with each other. Mostly, it is not even an open fight but only pin pricks, and mostly one sided attacks launched by Shiv Sena (and even MNS) against BJP, and few of its actions / policies. Despite the open squabbles, their alliance has been working well.

Basically, it may be seen that Shiv Sena is struggling to preserve its own existence and the oft repeated attacks arise due to their fear of being ousted by BJP from their strongholds, of being ignored, and completely forgotten by the people. They are scared of the voters shifting loyalty to BJP in near future, and it is their way to stay alive in peoples’ memory.

This is not to say that Shiv Sena is not an independent party. It is just that they are in awe of BJP, and particularly, in view of Mr Modi emerging as a popular leader of masses. This forces Shiv Sena to keep signalling its own existence, its right to differ, and to oppose.

If we look back at the background of Shiv Sena, including its estranged sibling MNS, we see that the party was initially concentrated only in Island City of Mumbai, and did not have much impact on the mainland Maharashtra. Its initial objective was to protect the local Marathi speaking people from being dominated by the influx of migrants, who have regularly been flocking to Mumbai from all over the country, and have gradually taken away the job opportunities that would have otherwise probably gone to the local people.

Shiv Sena and BJP came together for the first time in 1989, with the unspoken but strong efforts of RSS which is also based at Nagpur in Maharashtra. RSS has been founded by Marathi speaking leaders and its current leadership is also dominated by Marathi people.

In forging an alliance with BJP, Shiv Sena saw an opportunity to benefit from the strong network of RSS cadres who used to work tirelessly for BJP in elections. Their alliance had formed the first Non Congress Govt of Maharashtra in 1995. To its credit, BJP gracefully accepted a subordinate role and never fought for the spoils of power, However, lack of mutual trust and constructive cooperation, had kept these two parties away from power.

It may be added here that often BJP has played a similar subordinate role in almost all its alliances at state level. It is seen in an alliance it has with Akalis in Punjab, in an alliance it had with JDU of Bihar till Nitish Kumar walked away, and in alliance with PDP in J&K.

Strangely, in Uttar Pradesh, BJP had even supported its rivals Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati to become CM (a number of times) till they reneged on their parts of bargain.

This strategy has helped BJP to grow in stature in public opinion, and its rise in Haryana is the latest example of people rewarding it for its patience. Almost all the regional parties supported by BJP have betrayed it at once or more, but the people can see the difference.

However, the current leadership of BJP, with Mr Modi and his confidant Amit Shah, being in command, is not willing to yield too much to the regional parties and to local satraps. Shiv Sena has already tasted it during the last assembly elections. Shiv Sena had driven a hard bargain for distribution of seats, leading to break up of the alliance. Shiv Sena was forced to re-join the alliance, after BJP emerged as the bigger winner and Shiv Sena lost the chance of having its own CM. Next time, it will have to accept whatever crumbs BJP offers.

In view of the aforesaid, the opposition to currency note ban by Shiv Sena and even MNS, may be seen as an expression of their independent existence, and as the ploy comes after seeing long queues of people at banks and ATMs, there may be a popularity angle as well.

And then the note ban orders have come along with the local body elections, in which BJP and Shiv Sena and MNS have been fiercely competing against each other at several places.

Now a word for BJP too. As its Chief Minister has been facing opposition even from within the party itself, and also from several other fronts, it has to keep a tight leash or else, the advantage it has for now might diminish and the local parties like Shiv Sena, MNS, and NCP - Congress alliance might grow strong by the end of the term of its present regime.

I hope Shiv Sena, and its estranged sibling MNS, will not become strident opponents of Modi and BJP like AAP, TMC, and assorted Communists and Communal parties.

Also, there is another interesting angle to the BJP Shiv Sena squabbles. It keeps both the parties in media focus and others like Congress and NCP go in to the blind zone. And like in films, in politics too, it is better to remain in news, good or bad, rather than being ignored and forgotten. After all, like films, Shiv Sena too hails from Mumbai.

Incidentally, have you ever seen BJP leaders responding strongly to the barbs by AAP. The answer is No. BJP defends itself and laughs at AAP but never condemns it strongly. This is because AAP attacks keep them in news and it keeps Congress in dark zone.

Lastly, about note bandi kanoon, while I am a strong supporter of the policy, and evidence of it is strewn around on Quora and also on my write ups in Blogshree, but somehow the acute misery being caused to the poor people does call for urgent remedial measures, and Govt of India, PM, FM, RBI, Finance Ministry, Banks, BJP, NDA, can not get away from the anger that may eventually unleash if and when the peoples’ patience runs out. One hopes the situation would improve well before any such thing happens. Please Beware.