Will Eknath Shinde be the man who broke up the Shiv Sena?
On June 26, Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde strengthened his hand with yet another top leader, higher education minister Uday Samant, joining his camp. With Samant, an influential politician from Ratnagiri, at least 41 of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs have now extended support to Shinde against Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister and head of the Shiv Sena.
Both the Shiv Sena factions, led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde respectively, are now flexing their muscles across the state. Thackeray’s supporters gathered outside Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai and shouted slogans against Shinde on June 26. There have also been reports of Sena workers vandalising the properties of rebel MLAs. Meanwhile, Shinde’s supporters held a massive rally in Sillod, Aurangabad, the constituency of rebel Abdul Sattar.
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In the 56-year history of the Shiv Sena, no rebel has gotten such wide-ranging support as Shinde. Earlier too, the party had seen revolts by bigwigs like Chhagan Bhujbal, Ganesh Naik, Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray, but none of them had managed to do what Shinde did—virtually split the party. While Bhujbal, a strong contender for the CM’s post, left as he felt he did not have the backing anymore of Shiv Sena founder, the late Bal Thackeray, the others had serious differences of opinion with Uddhav Thackeray.
Strangely enough, Shinde has been a low-profile leader compared to the other four rebels, perhaps why he caught the Shiv Sena chief off-guard. Party sources say his ground connect and ability to give everyone a patient hearing have made him a very popular leader. Shinde’s influence was restricted to Thane and Palghar districts till 2014 when he led the Shiv Sena there. However, after becoming a minister in December 2014, he has not looked back. His popularity has grown exponentially over the years, evident from the fact that Shiv Sena MLAs from both rural and urban areas outside Mumbai have joined hands with him.
The man himself maintains that he is still with the Shiv Sena. “I am an ardent follower of Balasaheb Thackeray,” he told reporters from Guwahati, where he and his supporters are now camped. “We will never select a path different from the Hindutva ideology. We will continue to work for the benefit of the Marathi manoos.” His stand has left Shiv Sena workers on the ground in a quandary, for they can’t fault Shinde on the Hindutva argument.
The battle has also moved to social media—Shinde’s camp has put out at least 15 templates with the tagline ‘Maajhe Kaay Chukale (Was I Wrong)’. They have been quick to point out that the Shinde had raised the pitch in incidents like the handling of the murders of sadhus in Palghar and the “oppression of Hindus” in Malvani in Mumbai. There is also now speculation that around 400 councillors from all over the state may quit the Shiv Sena and support Shinde.
Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut claims that Uddhav would have made Shinde CM if the BJP had kept its promise of rotating the CM’s chair after two-and-a-half years when they were in an alliance government (the two parties parted ways in November 2019). But a Shinde supporter calls Raut’s statement an afterthought. “It is a fact that Uddhav Thackeray himself wanted to become the CM. He never pushed for Shinde saheb’s name for the coveted post.”
As of now, it looks like Shinde has the upper hand in the fight for the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Is the era of the Thackerays, the first family of the Sena, over? The coming weeks may throw up a definitive answer.
