Congress-Sena ties not new in Maharashtra

Mumbai: If the Congress does decide to support the government led by the Shiv Sena, it will not be the first time that the two parties, which are the exact opposites in terms of ideology, will be hobnobbing with each other.

In the past, the Sena had supported the Congress on several occasions, including the presidential elections of Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee.

The Shiv Sena, which was formed in 1966, has been a staunch critic of the Congress with party founder late Bal Thackeray making a scathing attack on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi through his cartoons.

Later however, he supported the Emergency imposed by Ms Gandhi in 1975. In the 1977 general elections too, the Sena decided to support the Congress. But the decision backfired as the Sena suffered heavy losses in the Vidhan Sabha polls held in 1978 and also in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

Jolted by this defeat, Mr Thackeray offered to resign as the Sena chief, but later withdrew his decision upon party workers’ insistence.

In the 1980 Lok Sabha polls, Mr Thackeray continued to support Ms Gandhi by not fielding any candidates against the Congress.

In the presidential elections, Sena supported Congress candidates like Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee.

In the 1984 Lok Sabha polls, which was swept by the Congress, Mr Thackeray fielded two candidates on the BJP symbol.

In 1989, the Sena and the BJP decided to form an alliance, which has since continued barring the Vidhan Sabha polls in 2014.