Finding itself isolated in Maharashtra politics, the Shiv Sena (SS) has decided to invite its grassroots supporters from across the state for making a rally on the birth anniversary of its former chief Bal Thackeray (falling on January 23), a resounding success.
Termed “Pratigya Din” (the day of vow), the rally is being organised at Somaiyya Grounds (known for hosting Dandiya dances) in a bid to outshine the BJP’s last month’s “Mahagarjana Rally” addressed by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Mumbai and the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena’s (MNS) two-day introspection meet at Nashik last week.
Both Bharatiya Janata Party’s rally and the MNS meet hogged limelight, space and time slots in the media; the SS in recent times has been reduced to a “has been” party that also “once ran a marathon.”
Ironically, this image of the once-belligerent SS turning into a “toothless party” has been covertly spread by none other than its own long-time ally BJP which interestingly did not even bother to invite the Sena to its last month’s rally .
Though the two allies, the BJP and SS, had started drifting apart even when spit-fire leader Bal Thackeray was alive, recent times have witnessed the distance between the two right-wing partners widening to an extent that very soon they may find themselves sailing in their own separate lanes and competing with each other in the political stream.
For the SS president Uddhav Thackeray who took over the reins after his father’s death the parliamentary and Assembly elections are going to be the “litmus test” for his political acumen and for political prowess for the party.