A remarkable aspect of the recent Assembly election in Maharashtra, which the BJP won convincingly, is that the party’s office in Mumbai has been declared closed for a few days. This is unusual for a democratic transition which features a national rightist party thumping its regional rightist ally to accede to power for the first time on its own. Triumph is not usually known to lead to closed doors. But that’s what is happening, oddly enough.
The ostensible reason is the Deepawali-related festivities. The Hindu Right is known to be strong on such matters and there could be a touch of that too in the BJP decision to down shutters. But observers cannot be faulted for noting that the party is beset with factionalism on the question of choice of Chief Minister, and not just on the issue of which ally to choose — the “natural ally” Shiv Sena, with which there was encountered a stand-off on poll eve leading to the parting of ways, or the wannabe ally NCP, which has suo motu offered “unconditional” support.
The BJP needs time to think it over and, therefore, needs a break. It is like no other party. The remote control is in the hands of the RSS headquarters in Nagpur and the BJP Parliamentary Party must defer to it. The RSS is obviously torn between BJP state chief Devendra Fadnavis, a local Nagpur lad seen by many as the party’s rising star, and the more tested Nitin Gadkari, also a RSS favourite and also a Nagpur-wallah, besides being a former BJP president, no matter if he had to leave his position in ignominy on a corruption matter.
If it’s going to be Mr Fadnavis, chances are that the BJP will want to go with the Sena. In the case of Mr Gadkari, the preferred choice is likely to be the NCP since his personal chemistry with the Sena leadership is thought to be weak (and with the NCP strong). Mr Gadkari engaged in a show of force last Tuesday in Nagpur when some 40 of his MLA supporters met to back his candidature.
Is Prime Minister Modi, who is said to call the shots once the RSS informally permits the BJP to decide, going to be impressed with this sort of thing? This is not clear. What Mr Modi may want, however, is to ensure that no potential rival centre of power to his leadership should emerge in Maharashtra, not even that of an RSS-anointed nominee who comes to head the government there. There is, thus, also the likelihood of the BJP forming a minority government (whose stability can to some degree be controlled from the Centre), a factor indicated in these columns after the election result.
