As Thackerays take centre stage again, will the Marathi plank pay off?

Indian Express

2 days ago

With estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray setting aside their two-decade-old differences and uniting under the 'Marathi Asmita (pride)' plank, the BJP has adopted a wait-and-watch policy, even as it closely monitors developments in the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) camps.
Ahead of the Thackeray rally at the National Sports Club of India in Mumbai's Worli on Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS banners cropped up across the city. A video clip showing a fierce lion chasing away wild dogs also did the rounds among Shiv Sena followers. The message was loud and clear: the Thackerays are back.
Uddhav and Raj seem to have consciously decided to avoid using their party names, symbols or flags at the rally. This is reportedly aimed at avoiding political one-upmanship among party workers, while seeking to mobilise the 'Marathi Manoos' or sons of the soil, cutting across political affiliations, caste, community and religion.
Whether the alliance between the Thackeray cousins will be limited to the Marathi cause or translate into a larger political alliance ahead of local bodies elections in the state, especially the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election, likely to be held later this year, remains to be seen.
'Uddhav is keen on an alliance, but we have to take it one step at a time. Any hasty move could prove detrimental,' a senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said, requesting anonymity.
Similar sentiments were echoed from the MNS camp. 'Politics is a game of patience. We will be guided by what the Marathi Manoos wants and seeks,' an MNS leader said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, whose government is on the backfoot over the move to include Hindi as the third language in primary schools in the state, issued a stern warning on Friday. Saying that there was nothing wrong about harbouring Marathi pride, Fadnavis said, 'It does not give individuals the licence to force, intimidate, or physically assault those who do not speak Marathi,' he asserted.
When the late Bal Thackeray chose his son Uddhav as his political successor and named him the working president of the Shiv Sena in 2003, nephew Raj, who was also in the reckoning, felt betrayed. Uddhav took over the party after Bal Thackeray's demise in 2012, and when attempts to reconcile their differences failed, Raj quit and formed the MNS in 2006. In subsequent elections, the undivided Shiv Sena and the MNS fought for the same Marathi vote bank.
Today, politically, Uddhav and Raj are fighting for survival. While the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the 2024 Assembly elections, winning 132 of the 148 seats it contested, Uddhav's Shiv Sena, torn apart following the split engineered by Eknath Shinde, was reduced to just 20 MLAs. The MNS failed to win a single seat.
With the BJP emboldened by the support of the Shiv Sena led by Shinde (57 MLAs) and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (41 MLAs), the Thackerays know that the BMC election will be a do-or-die battle for their parties, a chance to regain lost footing.
The move towards a rapprochement started in April. The Shiv Sena (UBT) announced in a poster: 'Vel aliahe, ekatra yenyachi/Mumbai ani Maharashtra saatthi/Shiv Sainik tayyar ahe/Marathi Asmitache rakshanasathi.' Translated into English, it means, 'The time has come to unite/for Mumbai and Maharashtra/Shiv Sainiks are ready/for protecting Marathi pride.'
'Our coming together is not difficult. The differences are detrimental to the welfare of Maharashtra and Marathi people. The so-called disputes between Uddhav and me were minor. Whereas, Maharashtra is much bigger than all that,' Raj said in an interview with filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar.
In a quick response on the same day, Uddhav said at a party event in Mumbai, 'I am willing to come together with Raj Thackeray. I am ready to keep aside minor differences…in Maharashtra's interests, I am ready for a union.'
In Mumbai, the Marathi vote bank accounts for up to 30 to 35 per cent. In the past, the BJP often depended on alliance partner, the undivided Shiv Sena, to bag the Marathi votes in Mumbai and its adjoining districts. The MNS, on the other hand, was often used by pan-Indian parties to cut into Shiv Sena votes.
If the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS alliance works, it will not only dent the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena's electoral prospects but also affect the BJP to some extent. However, political managers in the BJP argue that the consolidation of Marathi versus non-Marathi voters over a language dispute works to the BJP's benefit. 'We have traditional support among Gujaratis and North Indians, who constitute a sizeable vote bank of 30 to 35 per cent together,' a political expert said.
Over the years, even Uddhav and Raj have explored issues and constituents beyond the Marathi vote bank. With the issue failing to bring electoral dividends, unlike the past, the biggest challenge before them is to substantiate how and why the sons of the soil are at a disadvantage even today.