The roar that used to bring Mumbai to a still
23 Nov 2012 10:32 PM GMT
The ‘Tiger’ is no more, but his followers think somebody from his tribe will pick up his trail soon to roar like him in the jungle of Maharashtra politics once again. The roar that struck fear in the heart of the man, the roar that used to bring Mumbai to a standstill, the roar that echoed for days on end, that roar fell silent when Balasaheb Thackeray breathed his last on 17 November.
The Shiv Sena he formed in 1966 was raised and nurtured by him the way a tiger expands its territory and area of influence – lording over everybody. But Bal Thackeray was a destiny’s child – a creation of the environment and circumstances he was thrown into.
The environment of the 1960’s was conducive for the political growth of somebody who could take up the cause of ‘Marathi Manoos’– job concerns for the ever-growing educated youth at the height of the linguistic creation of Maharashtra – and Thackeray jumped in and saw a future there when others saw none.
And the circumstances – they had been building for quite sometime, since 1947 when he joined The Free Press Journal as a cartoonist where, it is said, he was tormented by his south Indian bosses, which made him bitter and later pen acerbic articles against the ‘Madrasis’ in his satirical magazine Marmik, founded after he left the newspaper, and expose the great divide between north and south in the city’s job profile.
With all these mingled in his personality – his uninhibited candour, his bewitching charisma, his ability to incite passions on issues to which he would remain loyal till the end – and created a larger-than-life figure, which single-handedly ruled the Shiv Sena for 46 years, and a cult following, which could be gauged from the sea of humanity that came to Shivaji park for his last rites.
And this very large emotional gathering is now, no doubt, being interpreted by Shiv Sainiks as a sign of the party’s mass appeal that will endure long after the ‘Tiger’ is gone once somebody from his family walks his trail. But who could that somebody be – will it be his son Uddhav or his grandson Aditya or his nephew Raj? History has often shown that family fortunes can alter surprisingly fast once the patriarch is gone. Uddhav, who has the blessings of his late father, lacks all his qualities. Aditya, the Sena’s youth wing chief, has not been promising yet. As for Raj, he bears his late uncle’s flamboyance mixed with menace to some extent, and some old Thackeray family retainers have even made discreet efforts to bring back into the party fold the estranged nephew who walked out of Thackeray household ‘Matoshri’ seven years ago to form his own Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
There have been talks of late that the two cousins, Raj and Uddhav, will bury their differences and Raj will return for the sake of the Shiv Sena. But this seems most unlikely now, and a glimpse of it was seen recently at the funeral procession when both Raj and Uddhav were walking side by side, and suddenly Uddhav jumped on the vehicle carrying Babasaheb’s body, leaving Raj to walk alone. The temperamental Raj left the procession midway.
Besides, his MNS is going from strength to strength and has done well in recent elections to city corporations in the state, and made inroads into the Sena heartland of Dadar and Shivaji park. As the two brothers go their separate ways, hardliners within the Sena fold are sure to drift to the camp of Raj Thackeray, who is seen by many as the worthy successor to Bal Thackeray’s brand of politics.
Political equations in Maharashtra are also going to change in the post-Balasaheb era. Sharad Pawar has already made a deft move when his NCP grieved with the Shiv Sena.
The advertisements released by the NCP in newspapers lauding Balasaheb clearly showed Pawar’s special place for Balasaheb, but it was more of a ploy to win over Shiv Sainiks.
The BJP, the alliance partner of the Shiv Sena, would now rather go with Raj Thackeray’s MNS than align with Uddhav.
Bal Thackeray’s personal relations with senior BJP leaders such as A B Vajpayee and L K Advani had helped hold the alliance together; Uddhav, lacking his father’s charisma, does not enjoy such a rapport. So, what will happen to the Shiv Sena?
Uddhav has got his task cut out: Check the growth of its ally BJP, thwart attempts by the Congress and the NCP to undermine the Shiv Sena, and expand the base of the party to rural areas. He may or may not be successful. It will be known only in the 2014 Assembly elections in Maharashtra. But one thing is for sure: The Shiv Sena will not be the same again.
There will be a Shiv Sena, there will be the Marathi pride, there will be a rabble-rouser in Raj Thackeray, there will be the fiery politics of regional identity, but there will never ever be another Bal Thackeray. And Mumbai will never hear that tiger’s roar again. [IFS]
The Shiv Sena he formed in 1966 was raised and nurtured by him the way a tiger expands its territory and area of influence – lording over everybody. But Bal Thackeray was a destiny’s child – a creation of the environment and circumstances he was thrown into.
The environment of the 1960’s was conducive for the political growth of somebody who could take up the cause of ‘Marathi Manoos’– job concerns for the ever-growing educated youth at the height of the linguistic creation of Maharashtra – and Thackeray jumped in and saw a future there when others saw none.
And the circumstances – they had been building for quite sometime, since 1947 when he joined The Free Press Journal as a cartoonist where, it is said, he was tormented by his south Indian bosses, which made him bitter and later pen acerbic articles against the ‘Madrasis’ in his satirical magazine Marmik, founded after he left the newspaper, and expose the great divide between north and south in the city’s job profile.
With all these mingled in his personality – his uninhibited candour, his bewitching charisma, his ability to incite passions on issues to which he would remain loyal till the end – and created a larger-than-life figure, which single-handedly ruled the Shiv Sena for 46 years, and a cult following, which could be gauged from the sea of humanity that came to Shivaji park for his last rites.
And this very large emotional gathering is now, no doubt, being interpreted by Shiv Sainiks as a sign of the party’s mass appeal that will endure long after the ‘Tiger’ is gone once somebody from his family walks his trail. But who could that somebody be – will it be his son Uddhav or his grandson Aditya or his nephew Raj? History has often shown that family fortunes can alter surprisingly fast once the patriarch is gone. Uddhav, who has the blessings of his late father, lacks all his qualities. Aditya, the Sena’s youth wing chief, has not been promising yet. As for Raj, he bears his late uncle’s flamboyance mixed with menace to some extent, and some old Thackeray family retainers have even made discreet efforts to bring back into the party fold the estranged nephew who walked out of Thackeray household ‘Matoshri’ seven years ago to form his own Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
There have been talks of late that the two cousins, Raj and Uddhav, will bury their differences and Raj will return for the sake of the Shiv Sena. But this seems most unlikely now, and a glimpse of it was seen recently at the funeral procession when both Raj and Uddhav were walking side by side, and suddenly Uddhav jumped on the vehicle carrying Babasaheb’s body, leaving Raj to walk alone. The temperamental Raj left the procession midway.
Besides, his MNS is going from strength to strength and has done well in recent elections to city corporations in the state, and made inroads into the Sena heartland of Dadar and Shivaji park. As the two brothers go their separate ways, hardliners within the Sena fold are sure to drift to the camp of Raj Thackeray, who is seen by many as the worthy successor to Bal Thackeray’s brand of politics.
Political equations in Maharashtra are also going to change in the post-Balasaheb era. Sharad Pawar has already made a deft move when his NCP grieved with the Shiv Sena.
The advertisements released by the NCP in newspapers lauding Balasaheb clearly showed Pawar’s special place for Balasaheb, but it was more of a ploy to win over Shiv Sainiks.
The BJP, the alliance partner of the Shiv Sena, would now rather go with Raj Thackeray’s MNS than align with Uddhav.
Bal Thackeray’s personal relations with senior BJP leaders such as A B Vajpayee and L K Advani had helped hold the alliance together; Uddhav, lacking his father’s charisma, does not enjoy such a rapport. So, what will happen to the Shiv Sena?
Uddhav has got his task cut out: Check the growth of its ally BJP, thwart attempts by the Congress and the NCP to undermine the Shiv Sena, and expand the base of the party to rural areas. He may or may not be successful. It will be known only in the 2014 Assembly elections in Maharashtra. But one thing is for sure: The Shiv Sena will not be the same again.
There will be a Shiv Sena, there will be the Marathi pride, there will be a rabble-rouser in Raj Thackeray, there will be the fiery politics of regional identity, but there will never ever be another Bal Thackeray. And Mumbai will never hear that tiger’s roar again. [IFS]
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