Opinion The Sena’s stumbling march

Eighteen years later,after the Allahabad high court’s verdict,the Sena has been largely silent. There have been no celebrations,no clamour for credit. Sena leaders are privately jubilant,and party mouthpiece Saamna has praised Justice S.U. Khan while urging Muslims to use the occasion to “wipe away the stigma of being seen as pro-Pakistani or fanatics” by helping build the Ram temple.

While the Sena’s silence has helped keep the peace in Maharashtra,there are other factors influencing the party at the moment.

The ailing Sena chief is struggling to pass on his legacy to his son,Uddhav,who lacks the wit,the aggressiveness and charisma of his father. The leaders who helped fortify the party for over four decades and who participated in the Ayodhya kar sewa,have grown old,and some key street-fighters like Chhagan Bhujbal and Narayan Rane have left the party. Rivalry between Uddhav and his cousin,Raj,which resulted in the breakaway Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS),has ended the Sena’s monopoly over the “Marathi manoos”. Considering Uddhav’s charisma deficit,the Sena is now trying to launch his son,Aditya,as chief of its “yuva sena”. Aditya’s objections to Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey,for its derogatory references to the Sena,are part of his political strategy. The state government is now investigating whether the university acted in haste,withdrawing the book.

The Sena’s attempts to score over the MNS means that it takes up any issue that might resonate with voters,whether it was the power tariff hike in Mumbai’s suburbs or,now,the participation of Pakistani nationals in the TV show Bigg Boss. Earlier,it opposed Shah Rukh Khan on the grounds that he had spoken out in favour of Pakistani cricketers playing in India. It’s clear the Sena has nothing of its former fire,and is now groping for issues. As it prepares to save its citadel in Mumbai,where the municipal corporation (the country’s richest) goes to the polls by February 2012,it could use infrastructure and civic amenities as poll issues,but is actually on the defensive due to poor management. It is blaming the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) headed by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan for encroaching on the civic body’s jurisdiction.

The Sena’s Generation Next is also facing challenges from younger politicians like Narayan Rane’s son,Nitesh,whose “Swabhimaan” outfit has been aggressively taking up civic issues . Moreover,the decision to institute a caste census has upset the Sena,which launched a website in the name of Keshav Thackeray (Bal Thackeray’s father,a social reformer steadfastly opposed to the caste system). The Sena is jittery about the statistics it could throw up,which could lead to new mobilisations and new leaders among the OBCs (who,along with Hindu Dalits,are the party’s backbone). The data may lead to unmanageable political aspirations.

Another worry is the Srikrishna Commission’s indictment of some Sena leaders for the post-Babri riots in Mumbai. Though some of its leaders were exonerated,the commission had recorded statements of people who claimed to have witnessed Sena leaders inciting mobs. After its bruising in the assembly polls,the party is wary of taking steps that could backfire on its leaders. It is not even certain of holding its high-profile Dussehra rally this year at Shivaji Park because of the “silent zone” norms imposed by the court. It would not be surprising if the jubilation over the Ayodhya verdict were to spill forth at the Dussehra rally. The state government,which has sought the cooperation of all parties in maintaining peace,is poised to move the court to get noise pollution norms relaxed,thus facilitating the Sena in an apparent quid pro quo.

The Sena,which was launched with the Congress’s blessings to take on communist unions in textile mills in the ’60s,gradually gained a political foothold with its “sons of the soil” plank. It formed a Hindutva-based alliance with the BJP in 1989,which endures despite occasional bickerings. Its ambition to grow in the Hindi belt has been stalled because of its anti-migrant stand in Mumbai. The Sena’s biggest moment was when it wrested power from the Congress in 1995 in Maharashtra,in alliance with the BJP. The question for the party now is whether that will remain its only major achievement.

rakshit.sonawane@expressindia.com