By mobin pandit
Doha: Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, who died in Mumbai yesterday, had a political career that spanned 46 years beginning 1966—roughly half of which he spent bashing Muslims after his party entered into a coalition with the Hindu rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a few years before the demolition of Babri Masjid in December, 1992.
So desperate was he to see his party hog the limelight nationally that he claimed in interviews at the time that it were his men who led the crowds of Hindu zealots that razed the mosque.
In a surprising volte-face later, he said publicly that the ground where the mosque once stood should be instead turned into a public garden and no temple should be built there.
Those who knew Thackeray were not surprised — he was mercurial and known for making statements that many thought were quirky and shocking.
A firebrand leader who had a tiger as the symbol of his party that initially fought for social justice for the sons of the soil in Mumbai, Thackeray got the shock of his life in the mid-2000s when his nephew Raj whom he mentored and brought into politics when he was barely 20, led an open rebellion and formed his own outfit — Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
What angered Raj was that despite him having been in the Sena’s youth politics for close to 15 years, the senior Thackeray sidelined him and nominated his son, Uddhav, as his political heir.
Uddhav, about eight years older than Raj, had not been politically active until he was nominated to succeed his father in 2003, although he had played a crucial role in the distribution of party tickets in Mumbai’s civic elections in 1997 in which the Sena-BJP combine had a landslide win. In fact, that was the time when the bickering between the Thackeray scions came to the fore, providing fodder to the media. Raj’s MNS that was set up in 2005 did jolt the Sena and emerged as a force to reckon with in Mumbai and surrounding areas.
Raj is charismatic and a powerful speaker as opposed to his estranged cousin Uddhav, and seen by many as the de facto successor to ‘Uncle Thackeray’. It is believed that MNS also had the tacit support of the Congress and its influential ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Sharad Pawar.
But the fact that Raj has been able to take on the Sena in its bastion metropolis of Mumbai single-handedly despite senior Thackeray’s opposition and occasional outbursts, speaks volumes about his political acumen and growing clout.
Uddhav, on the contrary, had been managing the Sena with the blessings of his father. He felt so diffident at the party’s annual jamboree last month that he had to screen a video message from the senior Thackeray pleading with the party’s followers to back him and his son, Aditya, who heads the Sena’s youth wing. The senior Thackeray could not preside over the jamboree due to bad health. He had not been keeping good health especially after undergoing angioplasty in 2007. Interestingly, many in the Sena publicly blamed Raj for his estranged uncle’s falling health even as he was in his eighties (born: January 23, 1927). What has been worrying those concerned with maintaining law and order in Mumbai and surrounding areas ever since Thackeray took seriously ill some 10 days ago is what happens if Sena and MNS supporters clash after his death.
Also, the question uppermost in the minds of people now is what happens to the Sena after Thackeray’s death? Will Raj be able to make a bigger dent in the party or can Uddhav help keep the outfit intact?
Well, the Sena has a massive network of offices called ‘shakhas’ (branches) all over Mumbai and its surrounding districts and they are quite entrenched at the local level as they are involved in social work and community activities. These ‘shakhas’ are manned by locally influential people.
The MNS, on the other hand, is new to this kind of grassroots-level work and lacks hold over the Marathi-speaking masses. Its influence is largely restricted to the youth, so making a dent in the Sena’s networks and influence-base shouldn’t be a cakewalk for Raj. His brand of violent politics and anti-Hindi rhetoric can also frustrate his ambitious growth plans. But, then, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the senior Thackeray also launched himself in politics in the mid-1960s by ordering attacks on Mumbai-based Malayalees and their jobs and businesses.
However, given that Raj is a powerful orator and has the backing of anti-Sena forces such as the Congress and the NCP, it cannot be denied that he can pose a serious threat to the Sena over the long term. The Peninsula
