Shiv Sena: Tiger Tamed

On 19 June, when the Shiv Sena entered its 50th year of existence as a political party, it rained hard in Mumbai, the city that has been the party’s stomping ground. Every corner of the metropolis was flooded and potholed roads ensured that traffic stalled. There was chaos on the streets, something Mumbai is not unaccustomed to. The lifeline of the city—its suburban trains—had to suspend services for 12 hours. The Railways lost Rs 25 crore that day. The Shiv Sena, which has held power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for over two decades, was blamed for the fallout of the Friday deluge. The party had to call off its proposed high-profile celebrations for the day, and its leaders spent most of Friday monitoring the level of rainfall in the city.

And thus did a party which was born with a roar enter its golden anniversary year—without even a whimper. The floods were taken by many a Mumbaikar as proof that the party had failed over the past 20 years to raise the quality of urban life in what is arguably India’s most crowded city. For most, it has only deteriorated. The decline began under the watch of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who passed away in 2012, but his son and successor Uddhav Thackeray, president of the party, and his own son Aditya have not been able to explain this. Come to think of it, they have not been able to explain a lot of things, particularly the rampant corruption that has come to be the BMC’s mainstay.

In the 50 years since the party was born, it has slipped into a near somnolent state. With India’s financial centre opening its doors to the global economy, with all its influences from overseas, the outlook of the typical Marathi family has been changing. Traditionalism has been on the wane, and with it, a provincial appeal that held the party in fine stead over the decades. Families which once had thalis at middle-class eateries are now eating burgers and French fries at McDonald’s and chomping fried chicken at KFC. Big Bazaar, with its eye-popping deals, has replaced old kirana shops. And spoken Marathi has adopted inflections that signal a wide variety of influences. In all this, the Shiv Sena’s lack of economic vision and the political will to draw up a positive plan for Mumbai has become glaring. Hard hit by the pace of change, the party seems out of step with the ambitions of its core political base.

“The vada paav is no longer the only option for us. Our children have dreams and it is not a plan being offered by the Shiv Sena. My family has voted for the party in every election. But now our dreams have changed,” says Rohidas Babaji Jadhav, a die-hard Sainik.

Aditya Thackeray’s entry as an important stakeholder has not helped streamline the party. His emphasis on infusing the Shiv Sena with new blood has not delivered the expected dividends simply because there is no new blood. Pushing an experienced leadership to the sidelines after the founder’s death without credible alternatives has also impacted the party, a fact that Uddhav Thackeray is unwilling to accept. “Aditya copies Rahul Gandhi, and like him, wants only the youth in important roles. I have helped shape this party along with his grandfather, and today I am told that there is no place for me,” says a senior party leader who was refused a Lok Sabha seat. “Raj will benefit sooner than later,” he adds, referring to Uddhav’s cousin and founder of the breakaway MNS.

Since the Shiv Sena’s birth, its singular focal point has been the rights of the so-called ‘Marathi manoos’: the-sons-of-the-soil. The party’s violent protests against South Indians, minorities and later even north Indian migrants remains etched in public minds. Scenes of hapless Hindi-speaking taxi drivers and examinees appearing for the Railway Board test being beaten up and left bleeding cannot be erased. Nor can memories of its aggressive politics of early decades.

In its 50th year, however, the big failure of the Shiv Sena has been the mass exodus of its core constituency of Marathi speakers from Mumbai to far-flung areas, as they cannot afford the cost of housing in the city. The delimitation exercise undertaken by the Election Commission has added to the party’s woes. Most of the BMC’s 227 wards have seen an increase in the population of north Indians, who seem to be replacing Marathi speakers in areas that were once Sena strongholds. This is happening even in its heartland zone of Dadar and central Mumbai, and is likely to be an important factor in the Sena’s battle for political survival. Presently, Mumbai’s Marathi population is a mere 27 per cent. With builders buying up chawls, the popular community residential areas of Marathi speakers, and replacing them with skyscrapers, the sons-of-the-soil are being steadily pushed out of the city. A majority of these builders are either close friends of the Thackerays or card-holding members of the Sena, such as former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi.

On the national stage, the party has been in the shadows after the ascendance of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in all-India politics. The past had seen the Shiv Sena treat the BJP as a junior partner in an alliance for Maharashtra where the latter had little say. There was a time, when Bal Thackeray was alive, that BJP leaders in Mumbai would be summoned to the Thackeray residence, Matoshree. The Shiv Sena was extremely reluctant to share power with the BJP in the state, and has had a record of being more dismissive than accommodative of its ally.

Not anymore. With Shah at the helm of the BJP, the Maharashtra unit of India’s ruling party has switched to aggression mode. Visits to Matoshree are distant history and the Shiv Sena has started getting jittery. The 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, which gave a thumping majority to the BJP, were the Shiv Sena’s final undoing. From an aggressor, it was forced to become a timid follower. The BJP’s state unit president Raosaheb Dhanve has chalked out an ambitious plan to take the party to every household by establishing local shakhas like the Shiv Sena. This will cramp the Sena’s space, as the Marathi manoos are displaying a marked inclination towards the leadership of Narendra Modi over that of Uddhav Thackeray.

Modi’s vision of development has overshadowed Thackeray’s politics, as he has been unable to turn his idea of development into an appeal that works. Charges of his lack of vision abound. Thackeray’s inaccessibility to his party’s rank and file and lack of transparency in party dealings have only widened the chasm between him and once-loyal Sainiks.

“There is no game plan as such. Uddhav is not the kind of person who has many tactics up his sleeves,” says Kumar Saptarishi, political commentator and founder of the erstwhile Yuva Kranti Dal. “The Shiv Sena has always been in search of a partner. First it joined hands with the Socialists, than tried to get onto the Janata Party [bandwagon], but that did not happen. Then they went to the BJP, which was a small party then and stayed with them for 25 years.”

Says an aide of Thackeray, “The Shiv Sainik has realised that Uddhavji cannot be Balasaheb. There can only be one Balasaheb. [But] he is a very good organiser. He is not interested in making a noise about what he does… Politics is all about noise now and Uddhavji has to start connecting with Sainiks.”

Forty-year-old Amar Khamkar, proprietor of Khamkar Masalewale, a well known address in Lalbaug in Central Mumbai—a party pocketborough— has seen the Shiv Sena transform from an unruly destructive party to the present moderate one. He is not a Sena supporter, but while he once felt that Thackeray was doing a good job with the party, he has reversed his views now. “Uddhav begged so hard to be a part of the state government and is now opposing every development the BJP wants to bring in. Why did he join the government in the first place?” asks Khamkar.

The Shiv Sena has fundamental issues with the BJP, such as the Jaitapur nuclear power project, Land Acquisition bill, appointment of a committee for Mumbai under the leadership of the Prime Minister, proposed Metro Railway III project, curbs on Mumbai nightlife and a slew of other BJP initiatives. The widening distance between the allies and the Sena’s inability to handle the BJP’s dominance has turned the Shiv Sena into a caricature of its former self.

As a regional party, the Shiv Sena is no longer as feared as it once was. Thackeray’s push for moderation is seen as wimpy leadership, dousing the fire in the belly of Sainiks used to exerting influence on Mumbai streets. With no agitations, bandhs and the like, Sainiks are turning restless.

All of this, say analysts, has thrown the party into the throes of an existential crisis. The party was founded on aggressive politics and it became a formidable force for the fear it evoked. With its agitational street politics an old story, Sainiks are looking to parties with aggressive and irreverent leaders such as the MNS and NCP for their political careers.

The Sena’s women workers too are a disgruntled lot and feel that there is no place for them in the party. “There is only Neelam Gorhe. Do you see any other woman leader in our party?” asks Prachi, a woman party worker.

Concerns about Uddhav Thackeray’s health have also led his men to look for other political options. His battle with elder brother Jaidev over the will of his late father has been another blow to the party president’s image. Through the judiciary, Jaidev has sought to block Uddhav’s takeover of all Thackeray properties including Matoshree, whose value is pegged at Rs 40 crore. Uddhav has filed a probate petition in the Bombay High Court, which is being contested by Jaidev. The very authenticity of the will has been questioned. The Sena leader’s brother maintains that their father could not have signed the will in view of his ‘cognitive dysfunction’ brought on by ill health in his last few years. Under the will, Bal Thackeray left not even a paisa for either Jaidev or the family of his late son, Bindumadhav (who had died in a road accident). The court battle is expected to get ugly for the Sena chief.

In his petition, Uddhav Thackeray has said that the properties and bank deposits willed by his father are valued at Rs14.85 crore. However, Jaidev has contended that Matoshree alone is worth Rs 40 crore; he has also alleged the existence of other assets worth several crore rupees that find no mention in his brother’s probate petition.

The will, purportedly signed by Bal Thackeray on 13 December 2011 in the presence of Dr Jalil Parkar, a lung specialist who attended to the leader for several years, and lawyer Flanian D’Souza of Bandra, is being dubbed ‘a fake’ by Jaidev. In addition to Matoshree, under the will, Uddhav Thackeray inherits a plot of land in Bhandardara and a farmhouse at Karjat. According to Jaidev, it is unlikely that his father, who vehemently fought to popularise Marathi, would have dictated his final testament in English and signed it in Marathi. The disgruntled son is also seeking a division of the Sena Bhavan and party mouthpiece, Saamna, both under his brother’s control.

In the 50 years of the Shiv Sena, it has moved many steps backward, in the opinion of political analysts. “The tried and tested methods of the Shiv Sena have failed. It needs a complete overhaul if it has to survive the BJP in Maharashtra,” says Prakash Bal Joshi, a political commentator and eminent painter.

If not, Uddhav Thackeray might as well start writing the obituary of the party his father created.

Bal Thackerayfiftieth anniversarySaamnaShiv SenaUddhav Thackeray