The Shiv Sena fears Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi could become a liability for the party if he plays the “Gujarat development” in the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign in Maharashtra. This is because many industries have been shifted to Gujarat in the past few years.
“The Shiv Sena was formed on the issue of ‘son of the soil — Marathi manoos’. But this plank will be weakend if anybody comes to Mumbai and asks for votes in the name of the Gujarat model of development,” say Shiv Sena leaders.
The Sena also does not like the attempts to project Mr Modi as a “Hindu hriday samrat (king of Hindu hearts)” by a section of the BJP some time back.
This is because late Sena chief Bal Thackeray used to be referred to by the same title by Sena workers during his lifetime, particularly after the Sena accepted Hindut-va as its core ideology since 1986-87. The Shiv Sena is giving conflicting signals on backing Mr Modi as the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate for various reasons. It is unwilling to play second fiddle to the BJP in the state, and Mr Modi’s growing proximity to MNS chief Raj Thackeray is not going down well with Sena leaders.