Sparks, threats fly as the two Shiv Senas clash in Konkan

MUMBAI: With the clashes between the supporters of Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh and Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Bhaskar Jadhav on Friday, a war has begun between the ruling alliance and the Thackeray faction in Konkan. The coastal belt has traditionally supported the Shiv Sena, and Uddhav Thackeray is trying to revive the party unit there. The region has two Lok Sabha constituencies, and both will have Shiv Sena (UBT) candidates, including sitting MP Vinayak Raut.

The skirmishes happened in Chiplun town of Ratnagiri district when Rane organised a rally in Jadhav’s constituency, Guhagar. Supporters of both the leaders resorted to stone-pelting and sloganeering, forcing the police to fire teargas shells. The tension continued on Saturday after video clips of former MP Nilesh’s speech abusing and threatening Jadhav went viral. Jadhav, on his part, declared that there could be an attempt on his life, and if that happened, Nilesh Rane should be held responsible.

Chiplun is part of the Guhagar assembly constituency represented by Jadhav, a prominent leader of the Thackeray faction. Nilesh Rane’s rally was at Guhagar town, for which his cavalcade took a route through Chiplun, Jadhav’s hometown. The clash erupted when Nilesh’s convoy reached Jadhav’s office. His supporters raised slogans, which irked Jadhav supporters, and then both factions allegedly pelted stones at each other. Stones were also thrown on Rane’s convoy. To disperse the violent mob, the police fired teargas shells and resorted to a lathi charge.

After the incident, while speaking at the rally, Nilesh Rane warned Jadhav to be ready for the consequences. “I will not spare you. Now you see what I will send in return for the stones,” he said. Video clips of his speech, in which he was heard abusing and threatening Jadhav, went viral on Saturday. Reacting to these, Jadhav said it was clear that there was a threat to his life. “He has threatened me publicly,” he said. “He should be held responsible if anything happens to me. Not just him, even the BJP which provided him the platform should explain if it supports this culture.”

For over three decades, coastal Konkan has largely supported the Shiv Sena. Even though Narayan Rane and later Raj Thackeray split the party, it managed to win the Lok Sabha and assembly elections most of the time. In fact, Narayan Rane himself lost the 2014 assembly elections.

In the 2010 Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena, in alliance with the BJP, won the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency and nine seats in three districts of Konkan in the assembly elections in the same year. Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP Vinayak Raut chose to stay with Thackeray following the split in the party. However, six out of nine MLAs joined the Shinde camp while Jadhav, Rajan Salvi (Rajapur MLA) and Vaibhav Naik (Kudal MLA) stayed loyal to Thackeray. All these three MLAs are now locked in a bitter tussle with the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.

Recently, Thackeray toured all three districts of Konkan—Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Raigad—and campaigned for Vinayak Raut as well as former union minister Anant Geete who is the would-be party candidate from Raigad constituency. Union minister and Thackeray’s bete noire, Narayan Rane, is likely to be the ruling alliance candidate in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency. Friday’s incident is seen as a precursor to this electoral battle.

Party leaders from the sides believe that in the coming days, the tussle is likely to become more and more bitter, as Thackeray is trying to recover lost ground in Konkan.