The Shiva Sena and BJP, once friends, have become political enemies. With the BJP going it alone in the Maharashtra Assembly polls and now breaking out of the alliance it had for the Mumbai municipal elections, the Sena has no choice but to fight back. And it has taken this fight to Gujarat. Although the Sena was never seen as a force outside Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray’s announcement that Hardik Patel, the 23-year-old leader of the Patidar quota agitation in Gujarat would be the party’s leading face in the Gujarat Assembly polls is more than a stab to the BJP. It’s like twisting the knife. The BJP in Gujarat is still searching for a leader who can deliver in the absence of Narendra Modi. It has tried to put down the Patidar agitation, but with little success. Hardik is a force to reckon with and the Patidars believe that they too are entitled to reservation. More importantly, they have the numbers to make a difference and gain what they think is rightly theirs. The Sena’s strategic move to use Hardik to corner the BJP is a clever move that will give Modi and Amit Shah more sleepless nights, unless they win Uttar Pradesh.
