Maharashtra: Did Kerala Congress leaders scupper the party’s deal with Shiv Sena?

It appears the Shiv Sena’s past has come back to  haunt it. As the party’s leaders work to secure the support of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress to form the next government in Maharashtra, the grand old party’s Kerala chapter has thrown a spanner in the works.  

According to sources in the Congress, its Kerala leaders have argued that allying with the Sena would “weaken the party’s secular values”. They have pointed to the Sena’s role in communal violence against the Muslims in the 1990s and its campaign of “Bajao pungi, Hatao lungi” to drive South Indian migrant workers out of Mumbai in the 1960s and 1970s. The opposition by Kerala’s leaders is the key reason why the party has delayed giving a letter of support to the Sena, the sources confirmed. As a result, Maharashtra has now been put under President’s Rule.

The Congress’s Kerala chapter has significant influence on the party’s decision-making processes, a Congress leader in Delhi pointed out. That’s not surprising: of the 52 MPs the party has in the Lok Sabha, as many as 19, including Rahul Gandhi, are from Kerala. Moreover, leaders from Kerala such as KC Venugopal and AK Anthony have long had important roles in the party at the centre. 

On Monday, former Kerala Congress chief VM Sudheeran even went public with his objection to having any truck with the Sena. “The BJP and the Shiv Sena are two sides of the same coin. Both their outlooks are equally dangerous. Therefore, the Congress should not give any support to the Shiv Sena to form the government, internally or externally,” he said in a Facebook post. “In this regard, Sonia Gandhi’s original stance was correct.Unfortunately, there has been growing pressure from Maharashtra to give support to the Sena. If we are going to back a party like the Shiv Sena for temporary gains, then it will weaken the democratic, secular values of the Congress. Hence, the move by a certain section of the Maharashtra Congress leadership to make an alliance that doesn’t have the backing of the people’s mandate should not be allowed by the Congress high command. This is my request. I have already submitted this letter to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.”

Asked about his letter to the Gandhis, Sudheeran said, “The post reflects whatever I want to say. I have nothing more to elaborate on about this subject. I have conveyed my feelings to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.”

Another Congress leader from Kerala, KS Sabarinathan, said, “Senior leaders of the Congress from Kerala are strongly opposed to supporting the Shiv Sena because the party is against everything we stand for. Most workers and leaders of our party don’t want us to support the Shiv Sena. A few senior leaders from Kerala informed the central leadership about their reservations on Monday. It was because of this that the leadership didn’t gave the letter of support to the Shiv Sena.”

The Kerala Congress would have no problem though if the Congress and the NCP formed the government with outside support of the Shiv Sena, Sabarinathan added. 

Meanwhile, consultations to form the new government continued Tuesday. Top leaders of the Congress and the NCP met in both Mumbai and Delhi to decide on allying with the Sena.