Floating from stand to stand, the lightness of being Raj Thackeray

Raj Thackeray's recent attack on PM Modi over big-ticket projects moving to Gujarat comes when he is courting BJP. However, ahead of BMC polls, that is not a surprise

To remain in any sort of contention – particularly ahead of the BMC polls in Mumbai – Raj Thackeray has to above all retain his loyal Maharashtrian base. (Express photo by Arul Horizon/File)

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With the split in the Shiv Sena meaning that now there are two of them in the fray, the marginalisation of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is almost complete. Except, when he makes occasional statements like his recent criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over big-ticket industrial investments moving from Maharashtra to Gujarat.

At a recent event in Pimpri, Thackeray said: “The Prime Minister should treat all states like his children, and give them similar treatment. Just because he is from Gujarat does not mean he should favour Gujarat… It does not suit his stature.”

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The statement raised some eyebrows as Thackeray has been courting the BJP ever since electoral setbacks killed his hopes of emerging as the real inheritor of Bal Thackeray, compared to cousin Uddhav Thackeray. But with the BJP now in government with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Sena, his utility to the BJP is perhaps less than ever.

Meanwhile, to remain in any sort of contention – particularly ahead of the BMC polls in Mumbai – Raj Thackeray has to above all retain his loyal Maharashtrian base.

Hence, this occasional lashing out at the Modi dispensation, whether over shifting of industries, seen in Maharashtra as an unkind cut, or his criticism of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over the latter’s “disrespectful statements” against the state’s iconic figures such as Shivaji, Jyotiba Phule and Savitri Bai Phule.

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Congress leader Atul Londhe said the flip-flops show the MNS chief’s desperation to stay relevant. “He should stick to one stand and focus on real issues.”

An MLC of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Manisha Kayande, said Raj Thackeray has few choices before him. “He is trying to portray that he is important and everybody listens to him. But the fact is that if he doesn’t raise issues like insult of state icons and projects going out of the state, his political existence will be in danger, and that is why he is forced to speak. It’s compulsion,” Kayande said.

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But former MNS MLA Sandeep Deshpande argued that the fact that Thackeray could attack the BJP even as he has been meeting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis shows that he is not afraid to stick to his stand. “Raj Saheb is known for his straightforward attitude and speaking directly from his heart. One needs courage to speak what is on one’s mind. Right is right and wrong is wrong. He speaks openly about things which he feels are wrong. This needs courage. Others don’t have that.”

But what the MNS perhaps needs more now are some seats in its corner – and the BMC polls are its best bet. In 2017, it had won seven seats in the municipal elections. In the Assembly polls two years later, all it got was 1 seat, explaining its current driftless situation.