Togetherness, BJP-Sena style

Auto drivers celebrate joyously at LBS Road in Kurla on Friday following the yearlong extension given to them by CM Fadnavis to learn Marathi. Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi

Within the BJP-Shinde Sena alliance, both parties are partners in the government. But when it comes to winning voters, they are still competing.

This competition has become particularly visible on the question of Marathi identity. During last year's BMC election campaign, there was huge uproar and a sharp war of words between the BJP and the other pro-Marathi parties over issues of Marathi identity and language. While the other parties openly attacked the BJP, the BJP largely played a careful balancing game, defending Marathi while ensuring that its non-Marathi voter base did not feel ignored.

The latest example is the Maharashtra government's decision to give auto and taxi drivers another year to comply with the rules of mandatorily having basic knowledge of the local Marathi language.

On paper, it is an administrative decision. Politically, however, it could be a useful win for the BJP over the Shinde Sena.

Eknath Shinde's political strength still depends heavily on the Marathi voter. But that vote is no longer a straightforward bloc. Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray are likely to attack the government on Marathi identity-related issues.

The BJP has a broader electoral base, including Marathi, North Indian and Gujarati voters. This gives it more room to look beyond the Marathi vote, while the Shinde Sena remains more dependent on it. Drivers had been asking for more time to understand the new requirements and complete the necessary formalities. The transport department, headed by Pratap Sarnaik of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, was not willing to extend the deadline further.

When Sarnaik was asked about giving drivers more time, he had indicated that sufficient time had already been given and that another postponement could not be considered.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has now stepped in and given them one year. For the drivers, this is relief. For the BJP, it is also an opportunity.

But the timing of the decision is what makes it politically interesting. The extension came after a delegation led by a transport wing of the BJP met Fadnavis and sought relief for the drivers. If an extension was genuinely required, why wait until the RTO had started taking action against drivers? It could have been announced earlier.

More importantly, the transport department is headed by Sarnaik, yet the BJP delegation went directly to the CM and secured the relief.

The important question is not only who got the relief, but who gets the political credit.

The transport ministry is with the Shinde Sena, yet the final decision came from Fadnavis. A driver worried about meeting the deadline may simply remember that the CM gave him another year.

That makes the episode look less like a routine administrative correction and more like a small but carefully timed political masterstroke by the BJP. It allows the BJP to step in, provide relief to a section of voters and claim the political goodwill.

The decision becomes more significant because a substantial section of Mumbai's auto and taxi drivers comes from North India. They are an important part of the city's working-class population and a constituency the BJP has worked hard to cultivate. The timing also matters. Uttar Pradesh will go to the Assembly polls in 2027, and North Indian voters remain an important part of the BJP's national support base.

This does not mean the extension was given because of the UP election. That would be too simplistic. But the BJP has little reason to ignore an opportunity to strengthen its relationship with this voter group.

The BJP, therefore, gets a useful brownie point over its alliance partner without openly criticising it.

And that may be the larger political message. Shinde is trying to strengthen this position in Maharashtra and expand his political space, particularly among Marathi voters. His growing political visibility and popularity can become a challenge for the BJP in the longer run. The BJP, therefore, has little reason to surrender political space to its own alliance partner.

No wonder, even when the BJP and Shinde faction of Shiv Sena are government partners, when it comes to winning voters, they are still competitors.

And on the auto-taxi issue, at least, the BJP appears to have taken the driver's seat.

(As I write my last column for this newspaper, at least for now, I want to say thank you to my readers for patiently reading my columns, whether they agreed with me or not. I carry with me deep respect and gratitude for this journey. For now, it is goodbye to this column, but hopefully not to the readers.)

Sanjeev Shivadekar is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @SanjeevShivadek
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