Break all alliances, let voters choose the best party

People of the state are confused over the internal fights within the CongressNCP and BJPShiv Sena camps on the issue of seat sharing when less than a month is left for the state assembly elections Despite being known as united forces all four parties are issuing threats of going soloBut in case of the BJP and Shiv Sena it cannot be ignored that they were never a united political force on record except in 1995 when they wrested power from the Congress To explain it better in a parliamentary democracy a political party gets true recognition when it sends its representatives to Parliament or a state legislature And once a party succeeds in this it has to identify whether it is a part of the ruling side or the oppositionThough the Shiv Sena and BJP proclaim their alliance is more than 25 years old they never officially informed the state legislature on paper except in 1995 that they are in alliance and have a common group leader to identify them In 1995 Manohar Joshi of Shiv Sena and Gopinath Munde of the BJP gave a letter bearing such information to identify the Shiv Sena and BJP as a coalition The letter was submitted to the then governor and the state legislature to stake its claim for powerBoth the parties now engaged in an ugly fight over seat sharing have rarely joined hands to wage a battle against the government over its misdeeds or wrong policies For a lay man it is difficult even to remember one agitation they jointly organised against the government over a public cause Both the parties have organised their own morchas dharnas separately be it on drought relief or any other issue In simple terms the SenaBJP is not a cohesive opposition force but a political equation pursuing the goal of attaining power A joint political force is formed when two separate political identities fight for a common causeAnd here in the case of the saffron combine the cause is to assume power In that pursuit it could have been appropriate for both the parties to expand their base But no serious efforts were made in this regard in the last 15 years when Congress and NCP ruled the state Accordingly it would be appropriate for both the parties to contest the elections separately and win the confidence of the people through the ballot boxFight for the topThe current bickering is actually for the CMrsquos post The BJP wants the coveted chair as it feels this is a lifetime opportunity The Sena wants to install its own man the question of which leader from the Sena is capable enough to lead the government is secondary The BJP wants a few seats from the 59 constituencies where Shiv Sena candidates have never won In other words the BJP wants these seats because most of them are in western Maharashtra and rebels from the Congress and NCP mdash which are strong in these areas mdash are willing to join the BJP to defeat their party stalwartsFor them joining the Shiv Sena is not a preferable option and the BJP in pursuit of the CMrsquos post is ready to induct these people with clout from western Maharashtra And Sena by denying these seats is actually helping the Congress and NCP indirectly feels the BJP Arguments and counter arguments have been exchanged over the issueOn the other hand the scene in the Congress and NCP camps is no different People have seen numerous instances where both parties have differed on issues Criticism against the CM and ministers within the ruling alliance is a regular featureThe NCP wants 144 seats a demand unacceptable to the Congress The NCP argues that the Congress has won just two Lok Sabha seats and they have won four and this gives them an advantage to contest more seats than they did in 2009 The Congress has refused to accede to these demands fearing the NCP will expand its base in new constituencies and try to defeat Congress candidates by fielding rebels It is clear that in the first opportunity they are given the NCP would like to dethrone CM Prithviraj Chavan who has been their nemesisIn fact both the Congress and the NCP should also go their separate ways so that voters have the discretion to decide which party is best suited to rule the state It seems the days of alliance governments are over and people want a singleparty government to evaluate performances for future elections The writer is Political Editor of midday