Subhash Velingkar, Hardik Patel: how Shiv Sena is trying to get back at the BJP

The Sena saw an opportunity to lure Velingkar and sent senior leader Sanjay Raut to Panjim to negotiate terms with him. Raut returned successful.

Then, the Sena turned it attention to Gujarat, and specifically to Hardik. The Patel reservation agitation led by him has been giving sleepless nights to the BJP leaders, and the Sena is trying to cash in on this. A senior Sena claimed the party has "decided to take advantage of the anti-BJP sentiment among the Patidars and has started talks with Hardik".

Asked for confirmation, the Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said there was "nothing wrong in trying to expand the party in any state of the country". "We are an independent political party. We have the right to expand in any state we wish to, irrespective of our alliance with the BJP. See, we fielded candidates in the Bihar Assembly election and our candidates got over two lakh votes," she said. "This is an indication that the Shiv Sena is becoming popular in other states also. This is the why we have decided to step into the fray in Gujarat, Goa and Uttar Pradesh."

The news that its ally is wooing Hardik has, quite expectedly, upset the BJP leaders, although they won't admit it openly. When asked about this, Madhav Bhandari, the party's spokesperson in Maharashtra, said, "The BJP's central leadership will decide on issues in Goa and Gujarat."

All this despite Hardik denying any understanding with the Sena. "I am not here to enter politics. Social service and the upliftment of rural people is my main objective. I will not enter politics."

Asked specifically if he was negotiating with the Sena, he replied, "No one from Shiv Sena has contacted me. I am not in talks with any political party, leave alone Shiv Sena. Since I don't have any political ambitions, there's no question of an alliance with or support for any party for any election."

This begs the question: was the Sena only fuelling speculations about its outreach to Hardik just to make the BJP nervous ahead of the elections? A senior BJP leader who asked not to be named said, "Neither Velingkar nor Hardik Patel will damage the party in any manner. If the Shiv Sena thinks it is a major achievement to get Velingkar, it is grossly mistaken. The RSS is the kind of organisation that will never tolerate the level of indiscipline that Velingkar has shown. It is such a ruthless organisation it didn't spare even Balraj Mudhok, the national chief of Jana Sangh, for deviating from its line. The BJP and the RSS won't mind losing power in Goa if that's the cost for Velingkar's sacking."