Mumbai: On Wednesday, after a brief meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray explained how the two “nurture relations” beyond politics. Similarly, Kejriwal spoke about how the bond of friendship brings him to Matoshree, the Thackeray residence in Mumbai, every time.
Kejriwal was seeking Thackeray’s support in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government’s fight against the central government’s ordinance on deregulation of services in Delhi. Both the leaders also talked about the need for opposition parties to unite for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
This meeting is an example of how the relationship between AAP and Thackeray’s party has changed in just 10 years.
In 2013, when AAP won 28 seats in the Delhi Assembly and formed its first government, its national convenor Kejriwal often faced scathing criticism from the then undivided Shiv Sena and its chief, Thackeray. With the AAP trying to make inroads in Maharashtra, and the Shiv Sena still a committed ally of the BJP, Kejriwal’s party was then seen as a natural enemy.
However, the political battle lines have since been drawn again. The Aam Aadmi Party is a virtually non-existent entity in Maharashtra, while the BJP enjoys power in Maharashtra in alliance with a rebel faction of the Shiv Sena, which is now officially recognized by the Election Commission of India as the Shiv Sena. . Meanwhile, Thackeray and his Shiv Sena (UBT) are waging a legal battle to get back their identity and symbol.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal has been at loggerheads with the BJP-led central government over an ordinance to create an authority for transfers and postings of Group A officers in Delhi.
With the binding glue of a common enemy, political equations have changed, especially for the Shiv Sena (UBT). For Thackeray, who once called Kejriwal an A Manager (The snake charmer) who mesmerized the people of Delhi, the AAP convener has turned into a “new relationship” and a “patriot” who wants to save the country’s democracy.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Kejriwal said, ‘Now they are saying that we do not care what the Supreme Court says. We will bring out an ordinance and reverse it… When someone becomes so arrogant, he becomes selfish.”
Supreme Court a Holocaust It had said earlier this month that the Delhi government has legislative and executive power over services in the capital except public order, police and land. While the Modi government has sought a review, it has also issued an ordinance to set up an authority for transfers and postings of Group A officers.
“I am very grateful to Uddhav Yes And Shiv Sena that they are supporting the people of Delhi but this fight is not of Delhi alone. It is of democracy, of the people, of federalism.
Sanjay Patil, a researcher in the Department of Politics and Civics at the University of Mumbai, attributes this to a change in circumstances.
“The enemy is common,” he told ThePrint. “These leaders may not necessarily belong to the same ideology, but the idea is to bring together people with a common enemy. Among all the opposition parties, Uddhav Thackeray has directly challenged the BJP politically and ideologically and is also seen as the leader who has done the most injustice.
“The BJP broke its alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena in 2014, the party split in 2019, the Thackeray-led MVA government was toppled, and then his faction lost the party name and symbol as well. Of course, it also got him a lot of sympathy.
“Some of that empathy could translate into joining forces with other opposition leaders, and for Thackeray as well, it will always help to have friends in Parliament to side with his party on tough issues,” he added.
Thackeray and Kejriwal , From ‘To pay attention to ‘item girl’
Thackeray at the press conference after the meeting Called upon all anti-BJP parties to help “save” the country’s democracy.
He said, ‘One thing is certain that Shiv Sena and Matoshree are known for improving relations. Some people only indulge in politics, but we go beyond politics and nurture relationships.”
He added: “Politics has its place. But the coming year is of election and if we miss the train then democracy will disappear from our country… We talk about opposition, but who is the opposition actually? We all are patriots and those who want to destroy democracy should be called opposition.
This was Kejriwal’s second visit to Matoshree this year – his first was februaryWhen he was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The visit came less than a fortnight after Thackeray’s son, Aaditya – Worli MLA and former Maharashtra minister – visited Kejriwal’s residence in Delhi.
When Shiv Sena’s (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut started the press conference in front of Thackeray and Kejriwal by saying that this is Kejriwal’s second visit to Matoshree this year, the Delhi CM interrupted by saying:Yeh pyaar hain, (That’s love).
However, there was no love lost between Kejriwal and Thackeray when Kejriwal became the Chief Minister of Delhi for the first time in 2013.
At that time, the undivided Shiv Sena had slammed him as “The One”.ManagerWho hypnotized the people of Delhi with his promises. The party wished his newly formed government luck, but said Kejriwal’s attitude of calling all other political parties corrupt was “arrogant and objectionable”.
At that time, AAP also had a chapter in Maharashtra and was trying to expand in the state, especially in Mumbai, in a direct contest with the Shiv Sena.
In January 2014, when Kejriwal staged a sit-in outside the Union Home Ministry when he was Delhi CM, Thackeray joined a larger political chorus criticizing the AAP convener. He called AAP the “item girl of country’s politics” adding that even actor Rakhi Sawant can govern better than her.
common enemy
Thackeray’s criticism of Kejriwal began to soften after 2014, when the BJP broke its 25-year-old alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena to contest the Maharashtra elections independently.
Though it forged an alliance with the Shiv Sena after the elections, the BJP emerged as the senior ally, winning 122 seats in the 288-member assembly against the Shiv Sena’s 63. Soon, Thackeray-led Shiv Sena became BJP’s bitter ally, Despite sitting in the ruling party, he is playing the role of opposition.
It was around this time that the AAP realized it was not gaining any ground in Maharashtra – it did not contest the assembly elections that year, and disbanded its state unit in 2015, after the state ran blank in the general election.
At the same time, the party won the Delhi Assembly elections in February 2015. Thackeray lauded Kejriwal’s victory, calling it “not just a wave, but a tsunami”.
In 2018, when Kejriwal sat on a dharna against the lieutenant governor of Delhi, the response of the undivided Shiv Sena was very different from that of 2014. The party expressed solidarity with AAP even as Raut called up Kejriwal to tell him what was happening with the AAP government. Not a good sign for India’s democracy.
Thackeray also did last month got included in Raising the issue at an MVA rally, Kejriwal attacked the prime minister over his alleged fake university degree.
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