Raj Thackeray: exposes BJP’s limitations

It was a sort of coincidence that Aurangabad police decided to file an FIR on May 6, against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray – over his alleged provocative remarks, the day commemorated as the death anniversary of late BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan.
In 1987, Shiv Sena offered a severe political jolt to the then mighty Congress by winning the Vile Parle Assembly bye-election, on the Hindutva plank. Until then, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was exploring different options in Maharashtra politics to expand its foothold. Earlier, the party had joined the PDF government led by Sharad Pawar, as the erstwhile Jana Sangh. In the Assembly elections of 1980 and 1985, the party had an understanding with the Pawar-led Samajwadi Congress which offered limited success.

Vile Parle by-election spurred the momentum
The results of the 1987 Vile Parle by-election came out as a wake-up call for the state leaders of the BJP. Shrewd Pramod Mahajan and other leaders noticed that Shiv Sena was moving at a fast pace on the Hindutva plank which was confirmed when the Sena demolished the Congress citadel- the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation in the elections held in 1989. The BJP decided to accept the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray in Maharashtra politics and the rest is history.
Politics of the Mahajan-Munde duo
After this, Pramod Mahajan settled in Delhi and handed over the state reins of the BJP to Gopinath Munde, his brother-in-law. Until Mahajan’s demise in 2006, the BJP followed the path of alignment with the Shiv Sena. But the scenario drastically changed after Mahajan’s death. Irrespective of his son Uddhav’s assertion that his father was ingenious, Balasaheb Thackeray was extremely clever in politics and he never allowed the BJP to dominate him. After his death, Uddhav tried in his way and the gap between the BJP and Sena widened thereafter. Despite being in the BJP-led government after 2014, Uddhav Thackeray never danced to the BJP tunes.
Modi’s charisma did not work
This gap turned into dislike after 2019, but still, BJP firmly believed in the charisma of its leader Narendra Modi. When Modi steadily assumed the role of a Hindutva icon, Sena was getting nervous. But in 2014, despite Modi’s whirlwind across the country, the BJP had to settle for 122 seats in the state assembly elections and the Sena maintained its grip over 60-plus constituencies. The party won 56 seats in the 2019 Assembly elections, despite some shrewd behind-the-scenes efforts, exposing the BJP’s mighty show of strength. A large number of rallies by Modi did not work in BJP’s favor. This was the second such failure and in fact, the BJP needed to introspect on why the people of Maharashtra, who voted for Modi in the Lok Sabha elections, did not vote for them in the Assembly elections.
Calculated moves by BJP
Finally, the BJP Chanakyas seem to have pondered over the Shiv Sena’s influence on the masses. A win in the Pandharpur bye-election came as an exception and the BJP failed in the subsequent by-elections held for Degloor and Kolhapur North. Even the municipal elections held in the meantime did not offer a political upper hand to the BJP. With this in mind, it seems that the party bigwigs decided to experiment with a new political game plan.
BJP tacitly supports Raj
After Raj Thackeray’s Gudi Padwa rally, his gradual labeling as ‘Hindujananayak’, a saffron-colored shawl on his body, the BJP’s support for him at the national level by pulling the strings as soon as he announced removing loudspeakers from the mosque, has many meanings. Chanting Jai Shriram, Raj has planned his maiden Ayodhya tour has not come as a surprise for the BJP.
The BJP may be deriving some pleasure by promoting Raj’s new look as a leader who can offer some uneasy moments to the Shiv Sena and create confusion among the Sena voters and supporters. But comes on the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image as a Hindu icon with a new identity of Hindutva. Even the image of UP CM Yogi Adityanath is being established similarly.
BJP plays a secondary role
It would not be wrong to say that this is a sort of surrender for the BJP at the state level. Because the party is playing a secondary role again by projecting one Thackeray to diminish another Thackeray. What is significant is that Raj himself never seemed interested in creating an image as a Hindu leader after launching the MNS. His focus was on the overall development of the state and the Marathi manoos.
A sensational letter by Parambir Singh on alleged corrupt practices by ex-home minister Anil Deshmukh, a sensational report by Rashmi Shukla on police transfers, a controversial role played by Gunaratna Sadavarte during the MSRTC workers agitation, the sensation created by MLA Ravi Rana and his MP wife Navneet Kaur over reciting Hanuman Chalisa at Thackeray’s Matoshree bungalow smacks of smart political moves latched on by BJP to target Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. BJP is solidly behind Narayan Rane and his children and Gopichand Padalkar who targets CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Amid political turmoil, the BJP is smartly plying over Raj Thackeray’s programs.
It’s interesting to see how voters would react during the upcoming elections to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other important civic bodies followed by-elections to the local bodies in the coming days.