MVA is preparing to tame the BJP and MNS and thwart their attempts to polarise voters over ethnic issues

The Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government has chosen to nip attempts by the BJP and MNS to polarise state politics by inciting hostility between Hindus and Muslims in the bud, as the term goes. The administration has given the police carte blanche to take strong action against BJP and MNS leaders who make provocative remarks or issue threats and ultimatums, ensuring that peace reigns in the state, especially as the state economy recovers after a two-year epidemic

 

Surprisingly, the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress, all of whom have been targeted and mocked by the BJP and MNS on a variety of subjects, agree on one thing: the government will appear powerful and severe when it comes to maintaining law and order and communal and social peace. The ruling coalition has adopted a hard line against the BJP and MNS for inflaming the Azaan- Hanuman Chalisa controversy in an attempt to destabilise the three-party administration.

 

They are aware that the BJP, in particular, has been at the vanguard of a new call for President's Rule, citing the breakdown of the state's administrative and law-and-order machinery. Head Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who met with NCP Chief Sharad Pawar for a marathon meeting last week, is prepared to thwart such initiatives. Raj Thackeray has taken a step back and cancelled Maha Aartis across Maharashtra scheduled for May 3, which coincided with Ramzan Eid celebrations. MVA leaders also claimed that the Supreme Court's ban on the use of loudspeakers did not apply only to mosques, but also to temples and other religious institutions. This has aided them in exposing the BJP and MNS's "anti-Muslim" agenda.

 

The arrest of Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana sends a strong message from the MVA government that it would not tolerate opposition tactics that disrupt peace and order. Furthermore, while the BJP and MNS have not announced a formal alliance, their mutual understanding to corner MVA has brought the three ruling partners closer together, reiterating that the state government is committed to following the principles laid down by Chhatrapati Shivaji and social reformers such as Shahu Maharaj, Jyotiba Phule, and BR Ambedkar, and will not tolerate communal and religious divisions.

 

This is critical, especially since the NCP and Congress have no objection to Thackeray reaffirming that the Shiv Sena never abandoned Hindutva, only the BJP. "However, the secularism thread connects three ruling partners as per the common minimum platform, and they are thick and thick together to combat the BJP and MNS," a top NCP official said.

 

 

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