Strange, but true. Two leaders known for their contrasting ideologies are violently stirring the electoral pot in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha polls, much to the detriment of the established players in the state. Prakash Ambedkar and Raj Thackeray could emerge potential challengers to the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena respectively in the assembly polls due soon, if they are effective in the current Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP has been calling the shots in Maharashtra politics since the Modi wave in May 2014 catapulted it to the No. 1 spot from No. 4. Both the leaders swear their politics is mainly anti-BJP, with Thackeray especially opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thackeray, who had once sung paeans to the Gujarat model, is now a friend-turned-foe.
What is strange is that Raj Thackeray’s party is not contesting any of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, but has emerged as leading campaigner for the opposition, in its attempts to checkmate the BJP-SS. Both Ambedkar and Thackeray are bearers of legacy. The 63-year-old Prakash is the grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar and is arguably the tallest of the Dalit leaders at a time when the Republican Party of India is splintered.
The Koregaon-Bhima incident and the subsequent Maharashtra bandh organised by him over a year ago made him a force to reckon with. He has aligned with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by member of Parliament (MP) Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, to form the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, which is contesting several seats in the state.
The 50-year-old Thackeray is the nephew of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who handed over the mantle of the organisation set up by him over five decades ago to his son Uddhav, forcing Raj to part ways and float his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2006. Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has made the Cong-NCP uneasy by seeking to mobilise Dalits and minorities and virtually challenging Maratha dominance.
Congress leaders, including the Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Chavan have been dubbing the VBA as the B-team of the BJP, accusing it of helping the ruling party by dividing the opposition vote. Ambedkar has proved a hard nut to crack, which the Congress found when it extended a friendly hand by offering a few seats. He floated the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi last June as a forum for marginalised castes. It is the successor of the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh, which he had formed in 1999 after splitting from the Republican Party of India.
Unlike other Dalit leaders, Ambedkar has tried to reach out to a larger ‘Bahujan’ constituency, including Other Backward Classes. A recent statement of union minister and Republican Party of India (Athavale) leader Ramdas Athavale that Ambedkar lead the United RPI shows that the VBA leader is the tallest of dalit leaders in the state. “If all RPI groups come together and if Prakash Ambedkar will lead it, I am willing to support the cause,” , Athavale had said.
Ambedkar is a known Pawar-baiter and therefore, the NCP refuses to touch him even with a barge pole. Ambedkar is contesting from Solapur against Congress’s Sushil Kumar Shinde and the BJP’s self-styled Mahaswami Jaisiddheshwar Shivacharya, a religious leaders of the Lingayat community, which has a strong presence in Solapur. He is also contesting from Akola in Vidarbha region, a constituency which he once represented in the Lok Sabha.
As regards Raj Thackeray, Pawar made attempts to bring the MNS on board the opposition alliance but failed to do so owing to Congress reservations. But local Congress leaders are now realising the importance of the MNS chief to make inroads into the ruling combine. Thackeray’s unique style of campaigning is helping the opposition effectively expose the Modi myth and reality.
The refrain among Modi detractors is that there is no leader countering Modi with as much passion, logic and oratory as Raj Thackeray in Maharashtra. The attacks by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thackeray show how the stinging criticism of the MNS chief has rattled the ruling dispensation.
The remark by Urmila Matondkar, who is the Congress nominee taking on BJP’s formidable Gopal Shetty in the Mumbai North constituency, that were Thackeray to address a meeting in her constituency, it would be of great help, illustrates the impact of the MNS chief’s oratory. Raj is genuinely cut up with the politics of Modi and Amit Shah and the way the BJP has tied up with the Shiv Sena and is therefore seeking to carve out his political space through the greatest weapon he has — his oratory.
He is not much of an organisational man. But the campaigning is helping Thackeray spread his organisational wings in the countryside at a time when there is much unease in the ordinary Shiv Sainik over Uddhav Thackeray bending over backwards to patch up with the BJP despite its ‘use and toss’ tactics.
One thing is certain. Ambedkar and Raj Thackeray, through their diverse tactics and politics, are responsible for a churn in the politics of Maharashtra in these Lok Sabha polls. This could make assembly polls, which are due by October, more challenging for rival sides.
(Sunil Gatade is former political editor, Press Trust of India)
