By Venkatesh Raghavan*
Mumbai: Amidst much confusion over the status of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s grip on the numbers game in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, different theories about the cause of the rift between the rebel leader Eknath Shinde and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray were doing the rounds here.
With Shinde claiming late evening about having bolstered the support of 40 MLAs, after his team shifted from Gujarat to set up camp in an upmarket hotel located at Assam’s capital city, Guwahati, the air was not clear about how or what kind of resolution was being planned by the alliance partners, who had earlier contended that the rebellion was an internal party matter that the Shiv Sena will manage, adding there was no threat to MVA’s stability.
While one of the theories doing the round was Shinde was bitterly opposed to Sena votes being put to use for enabling a Congress candidate to win in the recent MLC polls, there was also speculation about how the rift between him and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had been brewing for quite some time.
Rather than any allegation of corruption as some wanted it to sound, it’s been about the party’s failure to reach out at the grass-root level, create more reach among the masses, shifting its image from being an action-oriented party to one that adopts a boardroom style manner of functioning and also the young Turks (meaning Aaditya Thackeray’s coterie) usurping control at the cost of senior party leaders who were unable to make their voices heard.
The changing image of the party that was once known for action on the streets to that of a top-bottom corporate culture, wielding all decision-making power to a select few, has cost it a lot in terms of goodwill and loyalties it had evoked from its senior leaders. In addition, the senior party cadres felt insecure and faced the threat of being marginalized and subsequently shunted out. The senior party leaders including Shinde felt there was a need for greater autonomy within the party fold and also to reach out to voices from members of the public as in the old days of the Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
The rift between the senior leaders and the current brand of young Turks has its roots in Uddhav’s mellow approach to issues as compared to his father’s charismatic outreach to members of the public punctuated with rustic humour. Consequently, leaders like Eknath Shinde availed of the opportunity afforded by a group of disgruntled elements within the party.
The confusion on the political front heightened with Chief Minister Uddhav’s statement that his resignation letter is ready and even if one of his MLAs sounded dissent, he was willing to step down from the chief minister’s post. Interestingly, both the Uddhav camp and rebel Shinde camp swear unwavering allegiance to the Party’s founder member Balasaheb Thackeray. At the time of going to press, discussions were also going on in political circles about the dissolution of the assembly for seeking a fresh mandate from the people of the state.
With the party’s prospects in the civic elections posing an additional challenge in the coming months, there is a clarion call for an image makeover.
*Senior Journalist
