As he fights the biggest political battle of his career, is Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray facing a dearth of strategists and muscle power?
With Eknath Shinde, the man who earlier provided Sena with men and resources and acted as chief troubleshooter, himself posing an existential challenge to the party, Thackeray is forced to rely on an increasingly tighter circle of aides.
It is undeniable that Uddhav Thackeray is struggling to contain the damage caused by the vertical split and the near decimation of his legislature party. He is trying to offset the allegation of being inaccessible by meeting party workers at Sena Bhavan at Dadar. He is invariably accompanied by either Aaditya or Tejas Thackeray.
Insiders say despite the damage control exercise launched by Thackeray and his men, the lack of a frontline mass leader is showing. Sena’s trademark aggression against the rebels is missing and this is attributed to Thackeray’s attempt to gentrify the organisation. The other reason is the lack of strongmen and mass leaders who can step into the void created by Shinde, arrest the losses, and amplify its spunk.
“Shinde was one such mass leader in Sena. Such mass leaders cannot be created and nurtured in a short span of time. Of course, I have doubts if Thackeray will allow any mass leader to rise in the ranks to safeguard the political future of Aaditya,” a senior Sena worker, requesting anonymity, said.
Sena insiders say the battle for the ‘real’ Shiv Sena is being fought at two levels — legal and organisational. In courts, former minister Anil Parab, an advocate by training, ex-minister Subhash Desai, and Anil Desai and Arvind Sawant, who are Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs respectively, are handling the legal matters. Subhash Desai, who was on the verge of retirement, has now become active in handling legal and organisational matters. Thackeray’s private secretary Milind Narwekar, who was known for his skills to build bridges with politicians of other parties, seems to be missing in action except for a few public appearances. Because of his cordial relations with Shinde, there could be the issue of trust deficit, a Sena leader said. Besides, with MP Sanjay Raut behind bars in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case, handling communication through the media and managing optics are affected.
“Since Raut has been arrested [by the ED in an alleged money-laundering case], the media and perception strategy are being handled by Sawant and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi,” a senior leader said.
In the trenches, leaders like Parab, Sachin Ahir, and MLAs like Ajay Choudhari, Ravindra Waikar, Sunil Prabhu and Sanjay Potnis, who have stayed loyal to the Thackerays and the vibhag pramukhs, are reaching out to the common Shiv Sainiks.
“The strategy is to boost our numbers. Some of our men have been asked to ensure that people from a cross-section like conservancy workers, representatives of the Muslim community, and [Ambedkarite activist] Sushma Andhare are inducted into the party to bolster our ranks,” the leader added.
As another Sena functionary said, Sena represents the existential anxieties of the Marathi manoos—the sons-of-the-soil in Mumbai and nearby areas. “As history shows, each time Sena is in a crisis, its core voters, auxiliary voters, and even sympathisers will stand by it. This time, veterans like Subhash Desai and Diwakar Raote are also leading the charge,” he added, stating that while the MLAs had left with Shinde, the party functionaries and cadre were with Thackeray.
In Marathwada, where Sena was the first to strike roots outside the Mumbai-Thane region, the drift has been stark. For instance, in Aurangabad district, where Sena has six MLAs, only one has remained loyal to Thackeray. But, former MP Chandrakant Khaire and MLC Ambadas Danve reached out to party functionaries and workers to galvanise them.
“I went to all constituencies and met workers,” said Khaire, adding that samparka pramukhs Vinod Ghosalkar and Baban Thorat had also played a major role in keeping the organisation intact. “The people are angry that while they elected them [the rebel MLAs] with their sweat and effort, they left after being lured… this anger is reflected in the massive crowds at Aaditya’s public meetings,” Khaire said.