Bal Thackeray Foresaw BJP-Sena Rift in This 2011 Interview

In a 2011 interview, Bal Thackeray predicted the Shiv Sena-BJP rift and uncertain alliances in Maharashtra.

In a 2011 interview, Bal Thackeray predicted differences between Shiv Sena and BJP.

(Photo: Maanvi/The Quint)

Shiv Sena is set to form the government in Maharashtra with NCP and Congress – two parties it contested the elections against. Shiv Sena’s pre-poll alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unravelled soon after the results of the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections were declared, owing to differences in power-sharing. But in the musical chairs-like saga, which saw a sudden revocation of President’s Rule and a “rebellion” by Ajit Pawar, one thing became clear – the rift between BJP and Shiv Sena. But did seeds of differences between the two parties exist as far back as in 2011?

In this 2011 interview with Times Now’s Arnab Goswami, Bal Thackeray predicted both the uncertain nature of alliances in Maharashtra and the differences between Shiv Sena and BJP.

Read our full coverage of Maharashtra government formation here.

‘No Ideology in Politics’

Upon being questioned about if Shiv Sena is ‘close to BJP’, Bal Thackeray replied, “Nobody is close to anybody. What is close? Politics mein close ka koi samajh nahin hota hai, aate hai jaate hai. The spelling of close is also different; you can be close and you can close the door also.”

About BJP and Shiv Sena’s ideologies and if similarities can be drawn between them, he said, “In politics, there is no ideology. They just come and go.”

‘Was Close to Vajpayee-Generation of BJP’

2011 was well before the 2014 Narendra Modi wave, when he was elected Prime Minister. In the interview, Thackeray is questioned about the strength of the BJP-Sena alliance and if it would hold up in 2014 General elections.

Interestingly, Thackeray delineated BJP by generation, admitting he was close to Vajpayee and Advani but isn’t so with the ‘new’ generation. He said,

“This is a new generation which is in power, as far as the BJP is concerned, I am an old guard actually, belong to the old category, it is for Uddhav you can ask this question, whether Uddhav’s generation and this new generation of Nitin Gadkari and all, whether they can go hand in hand... but to me, not to that extent.”

Thackeray, on Shiv Sena’s new alliance partner – Congress, and the political developments of 2011 – said,

“That Congress has changed now, can’t, yeh haalat dekhne ke baad bhi, I am not Mamata or Jaya, who become friends after they win, I am not that person, I have got my own things, I have got my own ideologies.”

Fast-forward to 2019. Would the NCP-Sena-Congress alliance have made him uncomfortable? Or would Bal Thackeray have been happy to see a Thackeray be sworn-in as chief minister?