As Uddhav and Shinde gear up for foundation day, question about ‘real’ Shiv Sena resurfaces

The Shiv Sena always organised its annual Dussehra rally with great fervour. The event at Shivaji Park was sacrosanct for the party. The late Thackeray would address the Shiv Sainiks and give a definite roadmap and message for them. Another highlight was the celebration of the foundation day, and it was watched by one and all.

Unlike in the past, Uddhav will this year be addressing the cadres of a party whose title and symbol have changed. He is now leading the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the party symbol is a flaming torch.

Shinde has decided to hold a public meeting at Goregaon in Mumbai to commemorate the Sena foundation day. It is part of a well-planned move to show that his faction is the real custodian of Bal Thackeray’s party.

The Election Commission a few months ago handed the title Shiv Sena and the symbol bow and arrow to Shinde’s party. The decision did not go down well with Uddhav and his followers. It also invited huge criticism from political parties across the country.

After a prolonged legal fight, the matter of the disqualification of 16 MLAs has been referred to Speaker Rahul Narwekar and he has initiated the process to decide the status of the party, MLAs’ disqualification, the chief whip and related aspects.

At the core, the fight between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde is about whose Shiv Sena is real.

On June 20, 2022, Shinde, then a minister in the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, raised a banner of revolt and split the original Sena. Shinde got the support of 40 of the total 56 MLAs and 13 of the 19 Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena. As Shinde asserted his claims on the party citing the numbers, Uddhav insisted the cadres and officer-bearers across the state are still with him.

Along with 40 Sena rebels and 10 independents, Shinde staked a claim to the original Shiv Sena. The BJP entered into an alliance with the faction led by Shinde and made him the new chief minister.
By holding public meetings on June 19, both Shinde and Uddhav are seeking public support. Almost 48 hours before the foundation day, both parties have unleashed a poster war.

A strategist with the Shiv Sena (UBT) said that Uddhav would come out with a strong message at the foundation day rally and try to strike a chord with the masses. Uddhav’s claim that “Shinde has stolen the party founded by my father” has whipped up sympathy in his favour over the past 11 months.

And Shinde’s renewed aggression over the rights over the Shiv Sena is based on Hindutva ideology. “We are the real Shiv Sena. We are following the ideology of Bal Thackeray.” He has alleged that Uddhav compromised on Hindutva, Bal Thackeray’s central agenda, when he became the chief minister in a coalition government with the Congress and the NCP.

Uddhav’s party has vehemently denied the allegation. “Nobody should dare to teach us Hindutva. Our Sainiks don’t need to take Hindutva lessons from the BJP or the Shinde faction,” MP Sanjay Raut has said.
The public discourse notwithstanding, the final decision on party status will be decided by the Assembly speaker. Till then the pulls and pressures will see Shinde and Uddhav locked in pitched battle.

Uddhav, who is left with 16 MLAs and 7 MPs, reckons that he will have to make a new beginning to rebuild the organisation. He knows that the Congress and the NCP will not give him the leadership within the MVA. What has worked to Uddhav’s advantage is the growing support from Opposition parties across the country that believe he was wronged and that the BJP’s “operation lotus” was a devious plot executed to split Shiv Sena.

On other hand, Shinde has the BJP’s full backing. Whether it was on the Election Commission decision or the Supreme Court battle, the BJP has stood by him. But his recent political adventure to project himself above Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has led to cracks within the ruling alliance. With 105 MLAs, the BJP is not going to allow the Shinde Sena, which has only 50 MLAs, to dictate terms to it.