Bibtex
Endnote
RIS
For nearly six decades since he founded the Shiv Sena in 1966, Bal Keshav Thackeray’s party has been the noisy epicentre of politics in a State that was traditionally Congress-ruled, controlled by the sugar satraps of Western Maharashtra. The roaring tiger was synonymous with the Shiv Sena, which quickly morphed from a social outfit seeking jobs for the “Marathi manoos” to a political party championing the Hindu cause. A change from a regional outfit to a communal one, a change from street to State-level player, all worked around the popularity of its founder.
The new alliance is adding a twist to Maharashtra’s political story, but this twosome has volatility and differences which challenge long-term stability
The Shiv Sena and it’s bow-and-arrow symbol awarded in 1989 rode across the State and beyond Maharashtra. But as it divided and splintered, reaching a new low when the Election Commission gave the party’s poll symbol to a faction of the Sena in February 2023, the voice of the tiger receded. Now, two decades after they parted ways, estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, son and nephew respectively of Bal Thackeray, have reunited.
A joint rally in Worli on July 5 was their first shared platform since 2005. The rally “Awaaz Marathicha” or the voice of Marathi was organised to protest the Maharashtra government’s now withdrawn proposal to make Hindi mandatory in primary schools.
A change from a regional outfit to a communal one, a change from street to State-level player, all worked around the popularity of its founder
The three-language formula, viewed as an imposition of Hindi, has seen protests in the Southern States. The staunchest opposition to Hindi has been from Tamil Nadu where it is seen both as an effort to undermine the State’s linguistic identity and push ahead the Central government’s attempt at cultural dominance. In Maharashtra, it provided the beleaguered Thackeray cousins a handle to recover ground they have been steadily losing. With it, they have now resurrected a powerful narrative of Marathi identity to reclaim relevance.
For a long time now, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has not been able to make much political headway. In the 2024 assembly elections, the MNS did not win a single seat in the 288-member Maharashtra legislature while Uddhav Thackeray’s (UBT) managed only 20 seats.
They have now resurrected a powerful narrative of Marathi identity to reclaim relevance
In the erstwhile Sena under Bal Thackeray a mix of menace, fear and charisma kept both cadres and supporters in line. Raj Thackeray always led with muscle and roar. He launched the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, the party’s student wing, and later moved on to hit the trail campaigning across the State for Shiv Sena candidates in elections beginning with the 1990 assembly polls where he was seen as the inheritor of his uncle’s mantle. In style, manner and speech, he was closer to Bal Thackeray. He stepped away when the mantle of inheritance went to his cousin Uddhav, Bal Thackeray’s son.
Uddhav took the Sena into an alliance with the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to rule the State in 2019, after accusing the BJP of betrayal, in not keeping the understanding of shared leadership. The BJP struck back splintering the Shiv Sena and ruling the State in a coalition with the leader of a breakaway Sena faction, Eknath Shinde. They went further to split the NCP. A breakaway NCP group headed by Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit is now part of the BJP-led Mahayuti or Grand Alliance, which is the ruling coalition in Maharashtra.
Ally Eknath Shinde who heads the breakaway Sena with 52 seats in the State assembly, is the biggest loser in the face of this new development reuniting the Thackeray family
Challenging the BJP and regaining ground are the main aim as the cousins eye the civic polls. Especially important are elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation which is the richest civic body in Asia and bigger than a number of Indian States with the annual budget, which for 2025-26 exceeded INR 744 billion.
While the BJP is the main party in the State with 132 seats, the coming civic elections will show whether they can hold this position. Ally Eknath Shinde who heads the breakaway Sena with 52 seats in the State assembly, is the biggest loser in the face of this new development reuniting the Thackeray family. Shinde who has been positioning himself as Bal Thackeray’s rightful heir is left nowhere before the son and nephew of the Shiv Sena supremo.
Challenging the BJP and regaining ground are the main aim as the cousins eye the civic polls
While there are many advantages in the cousins coming together, they would need to look at the turns the recent championing of Marathi has taken. MNS workers have been involved in instances of terrorising and threatening non-Maharashtrians for not speaking Marathi despite living in the State for years. Pride in the language may help galvanise the campaign for the civic elections but strongarm tactics could alienate the substantial numbers of non-Marathi voters. MNS cadres have in the past attacked migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, accusing them of taking jobs away from locals.
The new alliance is adding a twist to Maharashtra’s political story, but this twosome has volatility and differences which challenge long-term stability. Uddhav Thackeray has been milder and calmer with a style of functioning more aligned with his new compatriots in the opposition while Raj Thackeray continues to roar and his cadres risk alienating a sizeable section of Mumbai’s workforce constituted by migrants. Estimates vary, but according to the 2011 census, migrants constituted over 43 per cent of Mumbai’s population. Of this number migrants from Uttar Pradesh accounted for nearly 41%.
Pride in the language may help galvanise the campaign for the civic elections but strongarm tactics could alienate the substantial numbers of non-Marathi voters
Over the last few years, especially since the 2019 assembly election, Maharashtra has witnessed a lot of political flux with both the Shiv Sena and NCP breaking. A dizzying number of changes have confused the voter – who is with who? Could the Thackeray alliance make some difference to this shaky scenario? That depends on whether they can reconcile two different styles of functioning.
It is uncertain whether the cousins will be able to recreate the magic of the Bal Thackeray years, or something close.