Shinde pips Thackrey scion in politics

Bhubaneswar, July 20 (Ajoy Kumar Misra) Has former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackrey lost everything in politics. The Thackrey scion’s complacency led to a split in the party with Eknath Shinde leading the group of disgruntled MLAs and subsequently the party cadre in a major part of the State. If Uddhav rose to do the damage control, it was too late and the damage was complete. Uddhav tried to play the emotional card but that failed to generate any sympathy among the cadre or MLAs. The rebel faction of Shiv Sena stuck to their Hindutwa ideology and blamed Uddhav for ignoring their advice to sever links with Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar or Shiv Sena’s arch rival the Congress. The rebel faction harped on Uddhav ignoring them for sticking to the Chief Minister’s chair and giving more importance to Pawar, who they alleged systematically tried to destroy Shiv Sena in its own bastion—Maharashtra.

All the efforts of Uddhav failed to convince the rebels. The rebels went ahead with their plan of eliminating the NCP and Congress that has subsequently resulted in the destruction of Maha Vikash Aghadi (MVA) formed nearly three years ago with the sole intention of keeping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power.

Uddhav with no possibility of patching up with the rebel faction resorted to legal means—approaching the Supreme Court. But that also has not paid any dividend. The case is now hanging in uncertainty and it is difficult to conclude the result.

Meanwhile, the Shinde faction has scored a victory in the Parliament with the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognizing it as a separate group from the Shiv Sena. The rebel group was bolstered after 12 of the 19 MPs pledged their allegiance to Shinde and their leader and whip chosen by Shinde. With this Uddhav Tackrey has landed himself in a more complex situation.

A new threat has now emerged for the Thackrey scion. Will the Shinde faction also stake claim to the Sena Bhawan—the Headquarters of the party. If that happens Uddhav Thackrey will go down in history for having allowed a situation where the legacy of Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackrey will be snatched by someone outside the Thackrey family. It will also spell doom for Aditya Thackrey in politics as he is the third generation heir of the Shiv Sena founders family.

This has also prompted to ponder that such things also may happen to other ‘dynastic’ parties in the country.