The growing intolerance of senas and their sainiks

The sainiks in India have been notorious for fighting their "cause" in a different way. Be it the "soldiers" of the notorious Sri Ram Sena, or firebrand leader Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which has been subdued since the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections, or that of the original Sena – the Shiv Sena – which has been making all out efforts to assert its supremacy in the state after being outperformed by longtime ally BJP in the same electoral battle, hooliganism has remained their key principle to seek power or remain relevant.

Apparently, the Shiv Sena is hoping to be back in the reckoning in Maharashtra, which it once ruled as the bigger partner of the alliance with the BJP, by resorting to such tactics.

The party recently forced noted Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali to cancel his concert in Mumbai citing his nationality and the tension along the Indo-Pak border.

Sudheendra Kulkarni

The latest move is much more shocking, as the person facing the brunt of the Shiv Sainiks is Sudheendra Kulkarni, ex-BJP idealogue and an old associate of party veteran LK Advani.

Probably what pained Kulkarni – the chairman of think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) – more is being labelled as a "deshdrohi", a traitor, when some Shiv Sainiks allegedly threw black ink on his face on Monday to discourage him from organising a function in Mumbai to launch former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book – Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider's Account of Pakistan's Foreign Policy.

Strong reactions from ally BJP and other opponents failed to dissuade the Shiv Sena from pursuing its anti-Pakistan stance and thus the extreme intolerance. Continuing with its agenda – using Pakistan to gain lost ground in Maharashtra – Uddhav Thackeray's party has now allegedly threatened against a Pakistani food festival in Pune. The main organiser – young entrepreneur and Congress supporter Tehseen Poonawalla – posted on his Facebook page that Shiv Sena is threatening him against holding the event.

In the past, the MNS had tried to portray itself as a party against bhaiyas – people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh living in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. Like the parent party Shiv Sena, it also adopted an anti-Pakistan agenda. However, after making some quick gains, the party now seems to be struggling for its existence.

Another self-claimed group of nationalists – Pramod Muthalik's Sri Ram Sena – also tries to hog the limelight by indulging in acts of violence and vandalism from time to time.

Despite defeat after defeat, these sainiks have failed to realise that by creating such issues and showing intolerance, they are harming their parties more than benefiting. It would be better for the Thackeray cousins and Muthalik to learn from their experiences and follow a moderate and democratic way to register their protest if they think there is indeed an issue.

Bihar polls: Lalu Yadav's desperation shows he fears for RJD's existence

Politics is all about balancing the equations, particularly that of religions and castes in the Indian scenario, to achieve political gains. Out of power for over a decade now, one of the country's most tainted leaders – Lalu Prasad Yadav – has been doing anything that he thinks can get his clan, and his party – Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) – back to rule Bihar.

And, filing of two FIRs – one in Patna and the other in Jamui – against the former chief minister and ex-railway minister only proves the veteran leader's desperation. Time is fast slipping out of the hands of the once messiah of the Yadavs, whom the people of the community idolised. Now, even his close relatives, who would once do anything to keep the RJD in power, are deserting Lalu.

The seasoned politician knows well that by staying out of power for too long, he cannot hold on to his somewhat trusted vote bank – the people of his community – who have been loyal voters of the RJD for decades.

Lalu's M-Y (Muslim Yadav) equation seems to be too redundant a theory in Bihar's current scenario. He was generous enough to initially accept Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as the leader of the Grand Alliance, which also comprised the Congress and the Janata Dal United (JDU) as the other main outfits. But the seat sharing deal did not work out as per Mulayam's wish, prompting him to quit the alliance, showing further cracks in the Yadav vote bank. Of course, the SP is not as big an influence in Bihar as it is in its home turf (Uttar Pradesh).

Then, encouraged by the AIMIM's performance in the last Maharashtra Assembly election, Asaduddin Owaisi also announced his party's arrival in Bihar. The party looks confident about making a big dent in the Grand Alliance's minority vote bank. That virtually kills Lalu's M-Y formula.

The RJD chief even backtracked from his recent "Hindus also eat beef" remark, which was apparently aimed at blunting the influence of Owaisi and Mulayam over the Muslim vote bank, clearly to save the Yadav vote bank. He realised that Hindus, particularly Yadavs, revere cows and they could take offence to his comment.

Lalu has certainly made some of the biggest sacrifices to be in the reckoning once again. The friendship with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar – once his biggest rival – says it loud. However, his sacrifices don't really seem to be working in his favour right now. Only time will tell whether he will be able to bring the RJD back to power in Bihar with the help of his opportunist friend like Nitish Kumar.

Hum Bolega To Bologe Ki Bolta Hai, is that what Narendra Modi thinks!

As a prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh often came under attack for either not speaking or speaking too less even when there were issues aplenty to address. However, he silenced the opposition by his famous address in Parliament about three years ago when he invoked an Urdu couplet to hit back at his critics.

"Hazaron jawabon se achchi hai khamoshi meri, na jaane kitne sawalon ki aabru rakhi (My silence is better than a thousand answers, it keeps intact the honour of innumerable questions)," Singh said in August 2012 in his statement during the discussion on coal block allocation scam.

PM Narendra Modi

The incumbent Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is a leader who is known for speaking, and speaking a lot. He would often criticise Manmohan Singh for not speaking whenever it was required.

But that was when he happened to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat as he aspired to rule the nation. He still speaks, but not when the opposition parties attack him over any issue. He takes time and reacts only when either the matter snowballs into a major controversy or, many a times, just dies down.

The ruling BJP is under attack once again. This time, over favouring former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi, who has been facing an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe, procure documents from the UK to travel to Portugal.

The opposition first attacked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who even admitted to helping the other Modi by speaking to British Labour MP Keith Vaz. As the matter persisted, the opposition stepped up the attack and even dragged the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) into the controversy. Now many parties have been seeking the prime minister’s reply on the issue.

But Modi, who has of late restrained himself from frequent public speaking, probably after knowing the sanctity of the post he holds, has been silent.

I wonder what Mr Prime Minister must be thinking while he is attacked by the opposition parties. Probably Kishore Kumar’s famous song from 1974 Hindi hit “Kasauti” -- Hum Bolega To Bologe Ki Bolta Hai (If I speak up, you will say I speak too much), picturised on megastar Amitabh Bachchan -- would aptly describe the situation of the prime minister.