Uddhav faces uphill tasks of revitalising Shiv Sena

Mumbai: The rebellion in the Shiv Sena not only led to the collapse of the 31-month-long MVA government and the unceremonious exit of Uddhav Thackeray, but also raised question marks about his hold over the party and the very existence of his political outfit, which is being accused of losing its hardline Hindutva identity following a tie-up with the NCP and Congress.

The rebel legislators have been maintaining that they were forced to go against Thackeray as he kept ignoring their plea to snap ties with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies despite being told that these constituents were trying to "finish off" the Sena. They also said that after tying up with the NCP and Congress, the Shiv Sena, founded by Hindutva icon Bal Thackeray, was going away from the path of Hindutva. After the rebellion, Shinde even claimed that his was the "real" Shiv Sena, and said that his faction wants to protect Hindutva.

Fighting a legal battle to retain his hold over the party and preserving the political legacy of Bal Thackeray, revitalising the party, instilling confidence in the rank and file that is in a state of shock over the scale of the rebellion, gearing up the frontal organisations are some of the challenges before Thackeray, political observers say.

"Sena's ideology got diluted and it will be difficult for Thackeray to re-establish his hardline Hindutva credentials. If he does not revive it now, Eknath Shinde's allegations that Thackeray had given up the hardline Hindutva, will be proven true. Thackeray tried his bit yesterday by renaming Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar. All through the MVA alliance, he accommodated the Congress and NCP and also called himself a Hindutva votary and he fell between two stools," the observers said. According to them, adopting soft Hindutva will not work for Thackeray.

The political observers also say that if Shinde moves the Election commission of India (ECI), the bow and arrow symbol of the Shiv Sena could get frozen. "How will the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena fight the upcoming civic polls, including the all important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on a new symbol," they asked. But Thackeray loyalists feel that the rebel faction cannot claim the party and the symbol because the original political outfit is still intact.

They also feel that Thackeray should give up his "obsession" with Mumbai and go into the rural heartland if he has to widen the party base and make it strong. Similarly, his heavy reliance on his inner circle, which comprises his personal secretary Milind Narvekar and Shiv Sena leaders Anil Parab and Anil Desai to name a few, did not go down well with several party veterans.