Political analyst Pratap Asbe introspects about what has changed for the Shiv Sena after the emergence of the MNS in the years between 1999 and 2009
Political analyst Pratap Asbe introspects about what has changed for the Shiv Sena after the emergence of the MNS in the years between 1999 and 2009
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may have emerged on the scene and dealt a blow to the Shiv Sena, but nobody can write off the Shiv Sena because of its recent electoral reverses.
Because it still has a strong organisation and solid grass root network.
All that has changed with the Sena and the birth of MNS may not have its beginning in 1999.
Though the rumblings within the organisation may have begun in 1999, it is only after Uddhav Thackeray took over as the executive president of the Sena that the real problems began.
Bal Thackeray gave the reigns of the family to Uddhav Thackeray and he slowly gained control of the party organisation and sidelined Raj even in matters like ticket distribution.
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Revolting against Uddhav's leadership, Narayan Rane made an exit from the party.
His exit was another blow as the party lost a lot of support in the Konkan. Besides, if anybody left the party, he was attacked.
But Rane was different, because he had mass support, he also had the ability to counterattack and he did attack.
Meanwhile, Uddhav had to face a lot of criticism, but he tried hard to improve. The cold war between Uddhav and Raj had come to a point where Raj made an exit.u00a0
There was a perception among the people the Shiv Sena was ignoring the cause of Marathi manoos and issues like employment. That is when Raj took over issues of Marathi manoos.
He was articulate and aggressive and had a style similar to Bal Thackeray.
Sena badly hurtSuddenly, the voters were presented with two new faces that of Uddhav and Raj.
Though Raj could not do much in the BMC elections, he improved upon it and showed his strength in the
Lok Sabha elections by giving a tough fight.
A large number of Dalit voters, youngsters and even Muslims, voted for him and he hurt the Sena badly in Mumbai and other urban areas like Pune and Nashik.
The final straw was the Assembly elections, where 13 MNS MLAs were elected.
Nobody other than Sharad Pawar could have achieved this feat of getting so many MLAs elected after breaking away from a party in Maharashtra.
But from now on, it would be testing times for both Uddhav and Raj and all would depend on what the 13 MLAs do in the Assembly and also the issues, which are taken up by both of them.
Uddhav is an emotional person and has in fact done a lot of work for farmers and other segments of society by taking up their issues and getting them resolved.
But the people at large have surprisingly not taken notice of his efforts.
Raj thinks it is his legitimate right to lead the party as he has been following in Bal Thackeray's footsteps since childhood. This division was destined to happen.
However they can compromise and come together on the Marathi ideology. If they feel they are not getting anywhere separately and have to remain in opposition for a long period.
As told to Sanjeev Devasia
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