Commentary: The Lesson Unlearned

It is said that Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray is set to become the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Maharashtra in the near future. He has the support of the Congress, as well as the Nationalist Congress Party.

Though it sounds like the return of glorious days for the Shiv Sena, it is nothing short of a tragedy.

By becoming the CM, what Uddhav Thackeray overturns is the respectable precedent gifted to the Maratha party by its great father, Bal Thackeray – who is the father of Uddhav.

The founder leader of the Sena never chased the seat of power of the state. Even when he was offered the opportunity, he politely handed it over to his party colleague, Manohar Joshi. It was how Mr. Joshi became the CM of the state in the year 1999.

With that precedent, there is an opportunity for growth for each and every member in the party. In addition, with that precedent, there is a powerful barrier that prevents the fall of the party into the clutches of family politics.
Aditya Thackeray is the first person form the Thackeray family to enter the turbulent space of Maharashtra electoral politics; neither his Sena Chief father nor his Sena founder grandfather has ever contested in any election.

The detachment of the Thackeray family from the electoral politics had a clear politics. With that, what the Shiv Sena offered was a space for its workers.
It is exactly what is ruined now by the entry of the Thackeray family into the space of electoral politics.

From the experience of many political parties, it can be said that even though it may sound exiting for the party workers to see the son of their political icon in the seat of power of the state, very soon they will discover the bitterness of that excitement.

If the things progress in this phase, the great party of Bal Thackeray will also face the fate of the NCP, the JD(S) and many other regional parties.

Vignesh. S. G
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