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Resources » Articles/Knowledge Sharing » General »
Rise and Fall of Shiv Sena
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Recently concluded elections to Maharashtra Assembly were a huge disappointment to its Executive President Uddhav Thakre and a major heartbreak to Balasaheb Thakre, the ShivSena supremo, popularly known as HinduHridaySamrat. A major contender for power in the state, SS is now finding it hard to digest the ignominy of finishing last among the parties in Maharashtra.
Is this election the beginning of end for ShivSena? Merely into 43rd year of its existence, the party is struggling to keep its flock together. The Hindu party is finding it difficult to overcome three major blows with stalwarts like Chhagan Bhujbal, then Narayan Rane and more recently, Raj Thakre defecting. The charismatic Bal Thakre is now an old tiger confined to his den, and his successor Uddhav is unable to show same vigour. Hence the glamorous days of the party seem to be over.
Bal Thakre came into political prominence in early Sixties when he led the people’s movement for the formation of Greater-Maharashtra including Mumbai (then Bombay) and Marathi speaking portion of erstwhile 'Hyderabad state'. Later on his crusade against ‘invasion of Bombay ‘ by south Indians – he used to call them Lungiwala – saw the Marathi speaking middle class rally around him. Thus Shiv Sena came into being in 1966.
In its early years, SS crossed swords against Communist Parties, especially S.A. Dange, which held its sway among the mill workers in Bombay. In initial stages the Congress Government, led by Vasantrao Naik, gave a mute support to SS. However, encouraged by the public support, SS slowly entered the electoral politics and dominated the Bombay Municipal Corporation.
The first major break the party got was when it decided to play Hindu Card rather than sticking to the Pro-Marathi stance which had no appeal beyond Bombay. The Ram Janabhoomi agitation started by BJP was a perfect platform. The aggressive speeches of Bal Thakre caught the imagination of rural unemployed youth of Maharashtra and the party started to penetrate the regions like Marathwada and Vidarbha. Thakre’s brazen claim that the Shivsainiks were involved in destruction of mosque at Ayodhya, even as the BJP and RSS leaders were shrugging off the responsibility, got him tumultuous support, which led the SS-BJP alliance to power in 1995.
But by now the disgruntled elements within the party had started to surface. First Chhagan Bhujbal, one of the closest lieutenants of Bal Thakre defected to Congress, and then to Pawar led NCP. Narayan Rane even after enjoying CM’s stint revolted against Uddhav’s installation as new SS chief. A major erosion took pace just prior to Loksabha elections when Raj Thakre, Bal Thakre’s nephew, who was widely tipped to become heir apparent, started his new aggressive outfit, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. It was a body punch to SS which it could not take and has been squarely flattened in the recent elections.
Were does SS go from here? With MNS establishing itself as the crusader for Marathi Manoos, the Maharashtrian vote in Mumbai has well and truly deserted Shiv Sena. Aggression was the main USP of SS. Uddhav Thakre appears a pale shadow of his father. With no mercurial leader to salvage ground for the party around, days for Shiv Sena are numbered and MNS is poised to fill the void.
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