NEWDELHI: One of the oddities of the current political scene is the compliments which the Shiv Sena has been paying to Rahul Gandhi.
The party’s spokesman, Sanjay Raut, noted recently how the Congress vice-president’s “body language” has changed for the better and expressed faith in his credentials to lead the country since the Modi wave has “faded away”.
The tricky relationship between the BJP and the Shiv Sena — parties that have been allies for over a quarter of a century and are partners in government at the Centre and in Maharashtra — struck a new low with Sena leader Sanjay Raut asserting that the “Modi wave” had waned. He went on to praise Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
At a function in Maharashtra, with BJP MLA and Minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government Vinod Tawde looking on, Mr. Raut said, “The Modi wave was there in 2014 Lok Sabha elections but now it seems to have faded away. The way people are marching on the roads of Gujarat after GST was introduced, it seems they [BJP] are going to face a challenge.” The Sena leader then praised Mr. Gandhi, saying that he was no longer considered a Pappu (a derisive reference to infantilism) and that people were accepting his leadership.