Behind Sambhaji Bhide meeting, Eknath Shinde’s long-term political calculus

The CM is involved in a tussle with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena for the party symbol and has been aggressively promoting the celebration of festivals such as Dahi Handi, Ganesh festival and Diwali. Despite being accused of not concentrating enough on governance, he has not backed down and pushed ahead with bolstering his Hindutva image.

After meeting the CM, Bhide refused to divulge details but expressed happiness with the functioning of the new government. “I have been wanting to meet him (Shinde) for several days and today we met. I will continue to meet him,” he added.

Bhide’s politics also blends well with that of the CM as the veteran Hindutva leader is attempting to portray himself as someone who tried to keep Uddhav Thackeray in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold but went against him on grounds of principle. Thackeray ignored Bhide in 2019 when he was planning to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with the help of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Thackeray refused to allow him entry into Matoshree, his personal residence, when Bhide approached him.

While Congress and NCP leaders have long been accused of ignoring Bhide because of his large number of Bahujan supporters — known as Dharkaris — Thackeray, since being pushed out of power, has cultivated the support of the Sambhaji Brigade group that is opposed to Bhide and accuses him of saffronising Shivaji and presenting a distorted history of the Maratha king.

Controversial figure

After leaving the RSS, Bhide formed his own outfit called the Shri Shivpratishthan Hindustan. He is based out of Sangli and claims to command a large following because of his politics of Hindu pride that revolves around the celebration of the legacy of Shivaji and the Maratha king’s son Sambhaji Maharaj. He was booked, but never arrested, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence as the police claimed it found no evidence against him. At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, his claim that couples who eat mangoes from his garden are blessed with sons and diktats against wearing masks landed him in trouble.

Bhide first came into the national spotlight in January 2014 after the then Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi visited Sangli to meet “Guruji”. Modi claimed it was not on request but Bhide’s “orders”.

In 2008, FIRs were lodged against Bhide and his supporters for protests against Hindi film Jodha Akbar. The case was later dropped. The following year, members of his outfit were said to have been linked to riots in Miraj in Sangli.