The artful Thackerays

The mild mannered Uddhav Thackeray has been anointed as successor to father Bal Thackeray as supreme leader of the Shiv Sena. His crowning c...

The mild mannered Uddhav Thackeray has been anointed as successor to father Bal Thackeray as supreme leader of the Shiv Sena. His crowning comes at a time when political observers had cast the more articulate and assertive nephew, Raj Thackeray, as Bal8217;s natural legatee.

The fact that the flamboyant nephew has lost out to the comparatively low profile son reveals that, when it comes to the crunch, dynasty in Indian politics is inescapable. It is thus curious that Thackeray, after constantly voicing strong denunciations about the failings of the 8216;Nehru-Gandhi8217; dynasty, has himself chosen to follow the well-trodden path of other dynastic democrats by describing his son as a leader 8216;chosen by the people8217;.

But then Thackeray senior has never had to give any reasons for his actions and utterances. For the last three decades, the Shiv Sena has perhaps been the only party in contemporary India 8212; with the possible exception of the Telugu Desam for a brief period during the N.T. Rama Rao years or perhaps the Dravida parties 8212; to be so crucially and totally dependent on the personality cult of a single individual. Bal Thackeray created the Shiv Sena at a particular time in Maharashtra8217;s politics when the mainstream parties were seen to be 8216;selling out8217; majority community interests. Thackeray8217;s vituperative rhetoric on Marathi 8216;asmita8217;, his undoubted yet dictatorial charisma and the combination of fear and respect with which he roused his cadres, created a particular ruling style which weathered the years.

Although it lost some support in the five years that it was in power, the Shiv Sena today controls the crucially important Bombay Municipal Corporation, a significant power centre for any government in Mumbai.

Uddhav Thackeray inherits a formidable mantle yet the Shiv Sena, unlike the Congress, does not possess an internal structure of democratic bodies which can ensure that transitions from one leadership to the next are effected relatively smoothly.

In the absence of these internal structures, Uddhav may find that in an era of sharp political competitiveness, it is difficult to command the same sort of blind loyalty his father did. Nor does the Shiv Sena possess a clearly enunciated modern agenda which Uddhav can utilise to shore up his position.

In the absence of an agenda or an internal party structure, in an outfit centred completely on one man, it remains to be seen how far Uddhav is able to forge a new identity. But, of course, we must not forget that the Thackeray family is a family of artists. Both Bal and Raj Thackeray are cartoonists, while Uddhav himself holds a degree from the JJ School of Art.

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Certainly Uddhav will need all the art at his command to pull this one off. He could well end up becoming a mere caricature of his father.