Panic In Shiv Sena After Karnataka Bypoll Results

The resounding victory of BJP in Karnataka bypolls, winning 12 out of 15 assembly seats, has sent shivers down into the sinews of Shiv Sena.

Why?

Because, the Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister is wary of people rejecting his party just as the people rejected the failed Congress-JDS alliance partners in Karnataka.

Though the mandate was in favor of BJP, which had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka, Congress and JDS, which fought elections each other, formed the government after BS Yedyiyurappa resigned as chief minister without facing trust vote last year.

Similar was the case in Maharashtra too. People had given mandate to BJP-Sena combine, but due to lust for  chief minister's seat, Uddhav Thackeray ditched its old ally to join hands with NCP and Congress to form the government.

Uddhav Thackeray fulfilled his dream, but Karnataka bypoll result has perceptibly shaken Sena to its roots, which is reflected in its stand on Citizenship Amendment Bill, which was tabled in Lok Sabha today.

Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the party had always opposed infiltration and supported the bill introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah, but demanded that the refugees should not be given voting rights for at least 25 years.

Sena Wary Of Its Future

Uddhav Thackeray is wary of the same fate that former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy met after his party drew a blank in the bypolls.

JDS lost in its Vokkaliga-dominant bastions in Old Mysuru region and failed to retain three seats that fell vacant after three of its rebel MLAs - AH Vishwanath (Hunsur), Narayana Gowda (KR Pet) and K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) - resigned along with 14 Congress MLAs, leading to fall of Kumaraswamy's government.

Political pundits are predicting the of fall Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi anytime soon, as it is yet to allot ministerial portfolios, due to the rift between the coalition partners to get lucrative portfolios.

They are also expecting the wedge between alliance partners to widen after Sena's support to Citizenship Bill, which will be seen as violation its Common Minimum Programme, which states that the alliance partners are committed to uphold the secular values enshrined in the Constitution.

Message For Parties

The result of Karnataka bypolls has also sent a very strong message.

The message is that parties should not subvert people's mandate and stab it in the back. If they indulge in subversion, people would punish them as they did to Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah in Karnataka today.

Period ...