Is it the end of the ‘Idea of Shiv Sena’?

On Friday evening, in a western suburb of Mumbai, several women were gathered at a playground. Decked up in their festive sarees, they were heading for the haldi-kumkum ceremony organised by an MLA from the Shinde camp of the Shiv Sena. As the event was to begin, news came in that the Election Commission of India had allotted the Shiv Sena name and the symbol of bow and arrow to the Eknath Shinde-led faction. “This is the real Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena,” announced a local leader in the cacophony of celebratory crackers.

The Election Commission’s decision of allotting the name and the symbol of Shiv Sena to Eknath Shinde’s faction and disassociating the idea of the Shiv Sena from the Thackeray family will have far reaching ramifications for what is left of the Uddhav-led party. It will also set the tone for electoral politics in the city, state and the perhaps even country in 2024.

Also Read| Uddhav Thackeray vs Eknath Shinde: A timeline of battle for ‘real’ Shiv Sena

The name Shiv Sena or the ‘Army of Shivaji’ was suggested by Bal Thackeray’s father Prabodhankar Thackeray, a noted social reformer in Maharashtra. It carefully used the figure of Shivaji symbolising Maratha pride to denote its strongly nativist and seemingly nationalist cause. Shiv Sena, launched in 1966, was built on an existing socio-cultural plank that the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement had already created in Mumbai. It aimed to fight for the rights of Maharashtrians in the city which struck a chord especially amongst the middle-class Marathi youth who believed that injustice meted out by “outsiders” needed to be countered.

Also Read: Fear of losing Shiv Sena Bhavan, party funds grips Uddhav faction

Afraid that the Sena might be banned during the Emergency, Bal Thackeray decided to officially register the organisation as a political party in 1976 as per the norms of the ECI and a constitution of the party was written for the first time. It’s subsequent success in the Lok Sabha elections held in November 1989 helped the party gain the status of a recognised state party. It also got an official party symbol- the Bow and Arrow.

Over the last six decades, Shiv Sena grew from a movement into a properly-organised political party and a major political force in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena’s journey has largely rested on the creation of cultural symbols that appeal the ordinary Marathi-speaking voter- from the Bhagwa (saffron flag) to the usage of the word sainik (soldier). Shiv Sena became an integral part of neighbourhoods in Mumbai and the state mainly through its shakhas and widely-laid networks of patronage.

In this political journey, every time the party faced an internal crisis, it managed to retain its ideological appeal and hold with the support of its local cadre which remained loyal to the Shiv Sena Pramukh (first Bal Thackeray and then Uddhav Thackeray). Shinde’s rebellion aided by the BJP was unprecedented not merely due to the scale of the rebellion but also because it sought to appropriate brand Shiv Sena. The Election Commission’s decision on Friday is a bigger victory for the BJP than it might seem for the Shinde faction. With its ambitions to control the state and the country’s richest civic body, the BJP has long been waiting for this moment of flux within the Shiv Sena.

ECI’s decision will obviously sow confusion in the minds of the Shiv Sena’s voters as a large number of voters vote on the basis of an electoral symbol and will adversely impact Uddhav Thackeray. But the tremors will also likely be felt among the party grassroots as the name Shiv Sena has become an integral part of their lives. The uncertainty that came with the defection of MLAs and MPs and the aggressive attempts of the Shinde-BJP duo to topple Uddhav is likely to push many to jump on the other side ahead of elections. The outcome also opens doors for the BJP to push its Hindutva through the Sena’s bhagwa.

While Uddhav’s contribution towards building the party and his position as heir apparent of Balasaheb has created a huge wave of support and sympathy for him, it’s tough to assess whether that would be enough for the political battle that lies ahead. The number of MPs and MLAs who have defected with Shinde, the political and financial clout of the Shinde-BJP combine and finally the passing over of the Shiv Sena identity to them is a deadly threat for Uddhav Thackeray’s faction. The upcoming civic elections would be a litmus test not just for the Thackerays but also for the lakhs of sainiks who have nurtured the idea of the Shiv Sena germinated by Bal Thackeray.

(Dr. Sanjay Patil’s doctoral work looks at the journey of Shiv Sena between 1985 and 2022. He works at the University of Mumbai and has been chronicling the Shiv Sena’s journey for the last ten years.)