It’s Not Party's Revival But Survival That Is Now The Priority For Thackerays |
Last week, Maharashtra politics saw a somewhat expected sequence of events. Expected, yet shocking for many, especially the first political family of Mumbai—the Thackerays. As reported by the regional news media, six members of the Lok Sabha of the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction suddenly became 'non-reachable' for days. Speculation was rife over exactly what was happening, and then came the sudden announcement of them quitting the Shiv Sena (UBT) and joining the rival Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
The high-profile spokesperson of Shiv Sena (UBT), Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, first looked confused about what the MPs were up to and then quickly turned aggressive against them in his communication with the media, even hurling abuses at them publicly. By the beginning of this week, it had become clear that the six MPs had decided to join the Shinde group and would be sitting with the ruling party in Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session.
Never in its 60-year-old history did the Shiv Sena (UBT) look so vulnerable and weak as it does now. This raises many questions as to how Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aditya, will keep their flock together in the state Assembly as well as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in the coming months or years.
A Party Built On Emotion
The Shiv Sena, traditionally, has always been a party........