Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, heading his faction of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, travelled to New Delhi this week, something he is not given to do often. There, he met political leaders including former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among others. Thackeray is believed to have brought up the thorny issue of a serious lack of proper coordination between the two parties, especially between his and Maharashtra unit of the Congress. This is the right time to address lingering issues that could derail the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of the Congress, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, and Thackeray’s Sena. The MVA will need all its might and every ounce of support, logistical and financial, to take on the Mahayuti alliance that holds power now. This comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party.
The Lok Sabha elections in April-May saw the MVA parties contest together for the first time given that the alliance was formed post-elections in 2019. In a charged atmosphere that saw the opposition INDIA bloc parties take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the MVA parties pulled their weight in most of the state’s 48 LS constituencies to bag 31. It was widely considered as a ‘semi-final’ before the state Assembly elections due in October. However, Thackeray, who gave it his all during the campaign even campaigning hard for Congress candidates like Varsha Gaikwad in Mumbai, expressed disappointment on two counts. One, that the coordination between leaders of the state unit of the Congress left much to be desired, and two, that the Congress rank and file did not work for his party’s candidates as much as Sena’s did for the Congress.
If he could take these to the Gandhis and have them intervene, it would stand the MVA in good stead as the state elections draw near. Despite his camaraderie at the leadership level, the rank and file of both parties hardly see eye to eye, let alone align politically and collaborate. How can they? Both parties have been at each other’s throats for well over five decades with the late Bal Thackeray spewing venom against the Congress and Gandhis at every opportunity. This election is a make-or-break one for his son who shook hands with the ‘other’ for survival. The relationship cannot anything but be rocky but it is a necessary one for Uddhav Thackeray.
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