The late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, whose birth centenary celebrations commenced on Friday, was a leader who left behind a unique legacy. While other political parties only made empty promises, Balasaheb recognised that unemployment among Marathi youths was a burning issue and decided to tackle it in a militant manner. He formed the Shiv Sena (army of Chhatrapati Shivaji) in June 1966 and promised to give justice to bhoomiputras, or sons of the soil. The nationalisation of private banks and the massive expansion of the banking, insurance, and engineering sectors had opened up employment opportunities in Mumbai. But the Marathi youth felt left out because most of the jobs were cornered by “outsiders”, as non-Marathis were described. Thackeray asked Shiv Sainiks to agitate against this perceived injustice. “Marmik", the magazine edited by him, regularly published lists of non-Marathis employed in different government companies. The Marathi middle class took the cue and, under the leadership of the Shiv Sena, forced these institutions to recruit lakhs of Marathi-speaking employees. Almost overnight, Thackeray had managed to create a powerful social base for his party among the Marathi middle class, which remained steadfastly loyal to him.
Thackeray also gave much importance to the party organisation, and he asked his followers to open “shakhas” all over Mumbai, Thane, and other cities. These “shakhas” devoted themselves to social work, like providing ambulance service, which endeared people to the party and created a strong bond between the organisation and the people at the grassroots level, which majorly helped in voter mobilisation. The Sena chief realised that his party cannot grow in a cosmopolitan metropolis like Mumbai only on the Marathi agenda, and he shrewdly, in tandem with the BJP, promoted the broad Hindutva platform. Slogans like “Garv se kaho hum Hindu hai" and “Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji" proved to be highly emotive in mobilising Hindus. The saffron alliance of the Shiv Sena and the BJP swept the assembly elections of 1995, and the party never had to look back thereafter. Thackeray, who never believed in caste, installed a Brahmin, Manohar Joshi, as chief minister only to replace him with a street-smart Maratha, Narayan Rane.
All throughout, Thackeray was in firm command of the Sena. But when he tried to groom his son Uddhav as his political successor, his nephew Raj revolted and left the party. Later, Rane and other leaders deserted him. Thackeray died a sad man. However, the legacy left behind was sufficient to pitchfork Uddhav to the CM's post at the head of the MVA coalition. However, the BJP, led by Devendra Fadnavis, split the Sena and inflicted a body blow from which it is yet to recover. Uddhav lacks the charisma of his father and now he heads a party that is emaciated by repeated defeats in elections. The million dollar question is, will the Sena come out of its existential crisis during the centenary of Balasaheb?
