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Journalism of Courage
Eknath Shinde’s struggles are far from over. The Election Commission of India may have recognised the Sena faction he leads as the real Shiv Sena and allotted it both the party name and its bow-and-arrow symbol, while he is himself ensconced in the Chief Minister’s seat — but in the eyes of Maharashtra voters, the Thackeray name still carries the magic.
In a bid to counter that, the Shinde Sena has now hired the services of a political consultancy firm. Showtime Consulting, to launch an outreach campaign to reinforce its claim as the real Shiv Sena and the true inheritor of founder Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy.
Two months after the EC order in the Shinde Sena’s favour, most Sena shakhas and their members — particularly in Mumbai, but also across the state — still owe fealty to Uddhav Thackeray and his Shiv Sena (UBT). With civic polls due soon, to be followed by the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2024, for Shinde that means his hold on power could wash away rather quickly — and hence the bid to refurbish its image.
Headed by former Prashant Kishor aide Robin Sharma, Showtime Consulting will not just design the Shinde Sena’s long-term political campaign, but also project the Shinde-led NDA government. Sharma was the co-founder of I-PAC along with Kishor, and was recently involved in the campaign of Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party in Meghalaya. In the past, he has worked with Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, among others, and is currently also associated with TDP leader and former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu.
As part of the strategy reportedly devised by Showtime Consulting, Shinde is set to visit Ayodhya with his senior party leaders on April 9, where the priests are expectetd to gift him a dhanush baan, or bow and arrow, the symbol he has wrested from the Uddhav Sena. This will be followed by a ‘Shiv Dhanush Yatra’ in Maharashtra, in which Shinde Sena leaders will tour the state carrying the bow and arrow. “The dhanush baan will be taken across Maharashtra to strike an emotional chord with traditional Sena supporters,” a senior party functionary said.
Confirming the hiring of Showtime Consulting and the trip to Ayodhya, Shinde Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said: “After taking darshan of Lord Ram, we will perform puja of the Shiv Dhanush and then bring it back to Mumbai before heading on the Yatra, starting from Marathwada.”
Sources said the thrust of the outreach will be to portray Shinde as the true upholder of Bal Thackeray’s legacy, and underline that the Uddhav Sena has deviated from it since aligning with the Congress in 2019.
The Shinde Sena is set to embark on the Yatra at a time when Uddhav is also holding a state-wide Shiv Garjana Yatra, especially factoring in constituencies of Shinde Sena MLAs and MPs. This has worried the Shinde Sena, given that his faction is already struggling to create a base in Mumbai.
“The main aim is to convey that the MVA alliance and its government were ideologically corrupt, and formed by a power-hungry Uddhav Thackeray by deviating from the Sena’s core Hindutva ideology and anti-Congress and anti-NCP politics. The idea is to showcase that Shinde saved the party by reinstating its true Hindutva ideology,” said a source privy to the campaign design.
Apart from the statewide Yatra, a slew of online campaigns are planned along the same lines, which will also project the differences in leadership styles of Uddhav and Shinde, with the claim that the latter is a more accessible leader. “The idea is to convey that Shinde is a grounded person who has risen through the ranks and comes from a humble family background. He is someone who understands the issues of the common man and is accessible to all classes, as opposed to Uddhav, who is detached and remained inaccessible as Sena head and CM,” a person with knowledge of the campaign design said, adding that the campaign will talk of the fact that with Shinde, a former autorickshaw driver, leading the Shinde Sena, the party understands the problems of the poor.
