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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, JAN 21: It was, finally, the need-and-greed for political power which determined that India and Pakistan would meet on the cricket field and, more importantly, that only the red cherry — not homemade Shiv Sena missiles — would fly in the stadium. Neither the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor the Shiv Sena could stomach the absurdity of snapping their alliance and losing power in Maharashtra on the issue of Indo-Pak cricket.
For the Sena, it was either the survival of its government in Maharashtra or a protest against Indo-Pak cricket. The truce brokered by Union Home Minister LK Advani with Sena chief Bal Thackeray swung on the fulcrum that a stubborn Thackeray would leave the BJP with no option but to snap ties. This was conveyed in no uncertain terms to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi Wednesday evening and repeated by Advani in his hour-long meeting with Thackeray today.
Broken alliance would pave the way for the Congress to return to power in Maharashtra — a thought that Thackeray abhors. As asenior BJP leader remarked, “He was told that if he did not relent, Chhagan Bhujbal (Thackeray’s bete-noire and Congress leader) would become the next chief minister of Maharashtra”. Clearly, it worked. Advani’s flying down to meet him as the Prime Minister’s emissary gave Thackeray the best face-saver he could hope for.
The turning point was the shocking attack on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office and the subsequent pussy-footing by the Maharashtra Government on nabbing the culprits. After the BCCI vandalism on Monday afternoon, Pramod Mahajan, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting who worked out the Sena-BJP alliance years ago, lost his patience and stopped humouring Thackeray, sources said.
When the reluctant state government would take no action against the Sainiks involved in the BCCI attack, never mind that BJP’s Gopinath Munde is the Deputy Chief Minister and in charge of the Home portfolio, the BJP at the Centre began to talk tough. Prime Minister Vajpayee,Advani and Mahajan by turns put pressure on the government as well as on Joshi. Their message was clear: so long as the protest remains within acceptable parameters, it was all right but once the Sena’s actions challenged the efficacy and credibility of the Vajpayee government it was not cricket at all. Also, Thackeray did not endear himself when he pointedly turned down Vajpyee’s personal request to call off the agitation. Mahajan has taken many snubs in his stride but could not tolerate a put-down to Vajpayee.
Joshi reportedly conveyed all this in the best manner he could in his long meeting with Thackeray on Wednesday night. In a sense, it prepared the ground for Advani’s straight talk this morning. Equally, the arrest of 14 people, many of them Shiv Sainiks, in the BCCI vandalism case was a message to Thackeray that the BJP means hard business this time. Joshi and Raj Thackeray were upset with the arrests but with his hands virutally tied, Joshi had no alternative to the arrests.
Thackeray wasprobably reminded of the 1992 episode when he refused to accomodate the BJP’s demands for 25 seats in the elections to the Bombay Municipal Corporation. Talks on seat sharing failed. Mahajan then told him that the stakes for BJP was either 12 or 25 seats (it had 12 corporators in the outgoing house) but for the Sena, the stake was power itself. Thackeray did not relent. Their alliance was called off for that election. The Sena lost the BMC to a delighted Congress for the next five years.
The BJP in Maharashtra still remembers it; the Sena came close to forgetting that lesson in history. But both desire power now. It was in BJP’s interests too to offer a face-saver to Thackeray.
