NEW DELHI: The Shiv Sena is gearing up in an attempt to create a niche in the Hindi belt and register its presence on the national scene.
In the first phase of the campaign, Shiv Sena leaders, including MPs Moreshwar Save, Satish Pradhan and Rawale and Delhi unit chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal, are slated to tour Uttar Pradesh from February 28 to create an atmosphere in favor of the party and to reinforce “Hindu unity.”
The Sena appears to be particularly keen on at least a token presence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, Although some BJP leaders view these forays with skepticism, it is feared that the Sena may use its clout in Maharashtra to wrest a few seats in this region.
According to sources in the Sena, Bal Thackeray will decide on his campaign in the Hindi belt after assessing the responses generated by the visits of other party leaders. According to them, his visit would add to the momentum built up the Shiv Sainiks’ claim that they were responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
In an interesting development which could well be related to the Sena’s plans for the Hindi heartland, its mouthpiece Saamna is ready to launch a Hindi edition, While the eight page Saamna eveninger is scheduled to hit the stands on March 1 and is targeted at Maharashura readers, it hopes to shortly follow this up with a weekly, The weekly, expected to be published from both Bombay and Delhi, is presently slated for Publication sometime in April and would be called Tejaswi Agnipath.
Agnipath, incidentally, is the name of a Amitabh Bachchan film, and the Shiy Sena is trying to get him to release the first I wait issue of the weekly.
The Shiv Sena’s ambitions to teach beyond Maharashtra are also evident in the recent addition of the slogan “Jai Hindustan” to its familiar “Jat Maharashtra.” Other slogans have also been suitably Upgraded to accommodate this vision.
The Delhi Shiv Sena claims it will fight the elections for the Delhi Assembly. According to Goyal who claimed to a video newsmagazine that the Shiv Sainiks had demolished the Babri Masjid the question of a tieup with the BJP will be taken when the occasion arises. From current indications, he claimed the Sena would contest “around 30 to 35″ seats in Delhi.
The party, Gopal said, had setup a candidate against B.L.Sharma “Prem” in the last elections, but later withdrew it in favor of the BJP candidate.
BJP’s Delhi strongman Madan Lal Khurana, however, dismissed. these claims and said the Shiv Sena had no base in Delhi and there was no question of giving them any seals.
The Shiv Sena’s efforts to muscle in at least a token presence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh seems to be based on a calculation of its ability to dictate the adjustment formula in Maharashtra, where the two parties had an alliance in the last elections.
Shiv Sena sources aver that the party would demand about 50 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh whenever elections are held. It is also expected to demand two to four Lok Sabha seats in the State. Here, too, the party would seek to “capitalize” on the claims of the demolition of the mosque. The actual number of seats if the adjustments are agreed to at all would, however, depend on the ground level situation at the time of going to polls. For the present, BJP sources dismiss the Sena’s claims.
Shiv Sena sources hold that in the last elections the party had asked the BJP for 25 Assembly and two parliamentary seats. The matter was discussed but last minute problems scuttled the arrangement. Finally, the party filed nomination for 10 segments and contested only three.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 19, 1993
