BJP is a national party. Shiv Sena is a regional party. They are in alliance and part of NDA. At one time both parties had Hindutva as main agenda and that brought them close. BJP had alliances with regional parties which lasted a few years. It had alliance with TDP in Andhra Pradesh. It had alliance with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. That broke down in 1999 and BJP had alliance with DMK and its associates which broke down in 2004. BJP and Shiv Sena had differences over certain matters over the years and they had ended in compromise.
An alliance is for winning elections. If your alliance partner votes for candidate of rival alliance then that alliance is of no use. That happened in 2007 Presidential election when Shiv Sena did not vote for BJP candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat but voted for Congress candidate Pratibha Patil because she was Marathi. In 2009 Shiv Sena was ready to support Sharad Pawar as Prime Minister instead of Lal Krishna Advani.
In 2009 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections BJP contested less seats than Shiv Sena but won 46 seats as against Shiv Sena’s 44.
Shiv Sena is back to regionalism. BJP has publicly opposed regionalism. Shiv Sena criticised RSS leaders Mohan Bhagwat for saying Indians can go anywhere and Ram Madhav for saying RSS members should protect North Indians in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena has been for Marathi people. At one time South Indians were targets. Marathi agenda did not have appeal outside a few cities in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena adopted Hindutva to broaden its appeal. Shiv Sena once again stressing its Marathi agenda is an embarrassment to BJP.
As long as people like Narendra Modi and Feroze Varun Gandhi are in BJP there is not much chance of BJP coming to power at Centre. Sangh Parivar does not have problem if Shiv Sena targets Muslims. It has problem when Shiv Sena targets Hindu North Indians. BJP’s alliance with Shiv Sena becomes a liability in North India.
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Tag: bhairon singh shekhawat
Candidate for Prime Minister
Lok Sabha elections are coming near. There are many candidates for Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh is the Congress candidate. Lal Krishna Advani is the BJP candidate. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat wants to be Prime Minister. Sharad Pawar has the support of Shiv Sena and Samajwadi Party. Ram Vilas Paswan, Mayawati, Laloo Prasad Yadav and others hope to be Prime Minister.
I wish to be the Prime Minister of India. It is unlikely that I will contest Lok Sabha election but it is not necessary to be MP to become PM. One can become MP within six months of becoming PM. Narasimha Rao and Deve Gowda did that.
If I become PM I wish to do the following:
1) Abolition of taxes.
I will set in motion a process that will reduce taxes by 1% per year and within 30 years all taxes will be abolished. Expenses needed for running the country will be met from licenses and rents from government properties. Imagine a time when you don’t have to pay Income Tax, Sales Tax, VAT, Customs Duties, Excise Duties, Octroi etc.
2) Equality
There will be equality and no discrimination on basis of class, caste, tribe, sex etc. Reservations in government jobs and institutions will be abolished.
3) Rule of Law
There will be rule of law. There will be death penalty for murder, attempted murder, abduction, kidnapping, hijacking, acid throwing and such high crimes. Life sentence will mean the person will be in prison till death. For other crimes there will be suitable punishments. Sentences will run consecutively. At present they are mostly concurrent.
4) TV
Free to air channels will be allowed to show adult films between 11.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m. Pay channels any time.
5) Midnight masses
Midnight masses will be allowed for Christmas, New Year and Easter.
There are many other things I want to do. They will be revealed in due course.
Presidential election
Presidential election 2007 has turned nasty. Pratibha Patil’s record during emergency was dug up. Her comments about purdah created a controversy. Her role in the bankruptcy of a bank of which she was a founder and director, allegations of her brother being a murderer, her husband causing the suicide of a man, misuse of MPLADS fund made headlines.
Congress started to attack Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The latest accusation against Shekhawat is that in 1942 when the country was following Quit India movement under the leadership of Gandhi Shekhawat joined police force. This is going back 65 years.
Before making this accusation Congress should have examined its track record. During World War II many Indian soldiers joined Indian National Army founded by Subhash Chandra Bose. Indian National Army surrendered in 1945. The soldiers were tried for treason and were acquitted but did not get back their jobs. After independence they were not taken back. This is how the Congress Government led by Jawaharlal Nehru treated freedom fighters.