The moment the BMC is ‘conquered’ by the BJP, it’s game over for Shiv Sena, regardless of whose Shiv Sena is at that time, Shinde’s or Thackeray’s. I wonder which one of them has seen through this. I wonder who’ll stop them. I wonder if they can be stopped. I also wonder if BMC is seen by others as rich enough and symbolic enough by those that matter to fight for it. I wonder how much the BJP will bet on it. I wonder if it proves to be their Leningrad. It just might. The reverse could begin here. If the Sena plays its cards right. At least I hope so.
N.B: At this moment, I am not pro-Shiv Sena. I am pro-anyone-who-is-standing-up-to-Amit-Shah because anything, literally anything is better than him. I am pro-decency (which, in a surprisingly pleasant volte-face, the Shiv Sena Pramukh has shown…as of date) because without it, are we even homo sapiens? I am pro-India because I am an accidental Indian, but I am also pro-the-idea-of-India because it is objectively worth preserving as a human. I am pro-Maharashtra not just because I am an accidental Maharashtrian, but also because it is rich in culture, history, art, education, literature, progressive thought, and the fount of almost every modern political (and some social) ideology in India (indeed Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, and Nasik are so entwined with the idea of India that it would be difficult to envisage a history of India without contributions from these cities and towns). And I am pro-Mumbaikar, for reasons unknown, even if I may not exactly love the city. Most importantly, I am pro-diversity in politics (and otherwise) and I am a strong believer in local parties and local politicians being concerned with local politics, state politicians concerned with state politics, and national politicians concerned with national and international politics. I am pro-coalition and anti-single-party-governance because this nation is less a country and more a loose federation of many countries and it cannot be run from the centre unilaterally; so, anything that diffuses power and makes it more difficult to do that, I am pro-that. Hope that clarifies things.
