Shiv Sena sans Thackeray a precarious proposition

With Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde becoming the Maharashtra chief minister with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) support, a race to capture the firebrand Shiv Sena has begun with Shinde claiming his faction is the real Shiv Sena.

Shinde, backed by 41 Shiv Sena rebels and the BJP, won the floor test in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly by 65 votes. The new alliance also proved its majority by electing BJP's Rahul Narvekar as the Assembly Speaker, who defeated Shiv Sena nominee Rajan Salvi by 57 votes.

Now the issues, such as who is the leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party (SLP), Eknath Shinde or Ajay Chowdhary, and the disqualification of rebels by former deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal, are pending in the Supreme Court.

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The BJP has already claimed that its tie-up with the Shinde-led Sena is the authentic BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, and the Assembly Speaker has recognised Shinde's Sena as the SLP.

The BJP has said it has joined with the Shinde faction to keep Hindutva alive. It noted that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena was drifting from its Hindutva principles after joining the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which had the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress as its other constituents. It alleged that those connected to the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim were in the Thackeray government. Besides, the person who had signed a petition seeking reprieve for Afzal Guru (a Kashmiri separatist convicted for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack) was in the Thackeray cabinet.

Shinde has become the fifth Shiv Sena leader to rebel against the party leadership. Chhagan Bhujbal was the first Shiv Sena leader who defected with 18 MLAs to join the then Congress government led by Sharad Pawar in the silver jubilee year of the Shiv Sena in 1991. However, Bhujbal was defeated by an ordinary Shiv Sena worker Bala Nandgaonkar in the 1995 Assembly election. Bhujbal later joined the NCP when Sharad Pawar left Congress on the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi in 1999.

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In the same year, Ganesh Naik, a strong man from Navi Mumbai, a minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government (1995-1999), left the party after differences with Shiv Sena chief, the late Balasaheb Thackeray and joined the NCP. He contested the 2014 Assembly polls from Belapur (Navi Mumbai) but lost to BJP's Manda Mhatre. Now finally, Naik is in the BJP. But his defection was a quiet affair since he did not float any party or lay claim to the strong Shiv Sena empire.

The Sena's next crisis was when Uddhav Thackeray expelled former Maharashtra CM Narayan Rane in 2005 due to his alleged "gangsterism". Then he joined Congress and was in that party till 2017. After his dream to become the chief minister could not be fulfilled, Rane left Congress in 2017. Subsequently, he floated the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha (MSP), which he merged with the BJP in 2019. Now he is a Union minister. Notably, he did not achieve much success after he quit the Shiv Sena.

Uddhav's cousin Raj Thackeray left the Shiv Sena in 2005, alleging that he was being sidelined in the party. He floated the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in 2006. The MNS won seven seats in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections held in 2007. The party won 13 seats (out of 288) in the 2009 Assembly elections. Subsequently, it also captured the Nashik Municipal Corporation and made dents in some municipal corporations/ municipal councils. However, in subsequent years the MNS progress was retarded.

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Even after Raj Thackeray quit the Shiv Sena, his party, the MNS, used to carry photographs of Balasaheb Thackeray on its posters. However, the Shiv Sena patriarch advised Raj not to use his photos since he had deserted his party. Raj quickly obeyed and removed Thackeray senior's photo from all his publicity material.

In the latest episode, Shinde took the oath as the chief minister by paying respects to Balasaheb, and Thane Shiv Sena leader, the late Anand Dighe. The advertisements congratulating Shinde also carried Balasaheb's photos. Since such ads send a wrong message, Uddhav Thackeray is sure to take legal action since Shiv Sena has high brand value.

The BJP has intentionally made Shinde the CM and Devendra Fadnavis the Deputy CM to ensure victory in the ensuing elections to the BMC, the richest municipal corporation in the country. Besides, the BJP also seeks to project the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena. Shinde being a Maratha and originally from Satara (Western Maharashtra), the BJP plans to solidify its base in the sugar belt.

However, Shinde is unlikely to be successful in taking over the title "Shiv Sena", its symbol "Bow and Arrow", and its hundreds of local branches (shakhas) spread across the state.

The Shiv Sena was founded on June 19, 1966, by Balasaheb Thackeray. Initially, it fought for the rights of the sons of the soil. Then it adopted hardcore Hindutva. Thackeray senior raised his voice on many national issues, including the exodus of Kashmiri pundits from the valley due to militancy and the demolition of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. There was a time when the activities in Maharashtra came to a standstill with one call by Balasaheb Thackeray.

The party headquarters, Shiv Sena Bhavan, located in Dadar in Central Mumbai, is run by a trust with senior Shiv Sena members as its trustees. Besides, the party mouthpiece Marathi daily, Saamana, is run by Prabodhan Prakashan, a publication company owned by the Thackeray family members and one or two Shiv Sena leaders. The issues like title and symbol fall under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.

Going by experience, it is difficult to imagine that the Shiv Sena, a cadre-based party, will be totally disintegrated. The Shiv Sainiks blindly follow the command of the Thackeray family. As such, the Shinde faction may make dents in certain pockets, but it will not be able to decimate the party.

(Raju Vernekar is a Mumbai-based senior journalist.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.