Politics of Raj Thackeray
Written by Pravin Nadkar   
Monday, 27 October 2008

Comparatively weak political forces are useful cards in the hands of powerful lobbies in politics. In the game of cards even a single joker can make a difference for the winning move. It is often not much different in politics too. As Congress party in Maharashtra is facing difficulties in tackling the electoral political challenge from opposition, it is seen to be encouraging Raj politics to its own advantage.

Shivsena as a representative of a new force of identity politics in Maharashtra was used to counter the influence of the social democrats and the communists in Mumbai in the sixties in a similar manner. Politics of "Marathi manoos" was made the agenda of Shivsena in Mumbai. It had the background of the struggle for Samyukta Maharashtra movement which was against the move towards the separation of Mumbai from Maharashtra. This agitation was mainly led by the progressive left forces. Powerful leaders from Congress party in Mumbai like S. K. Patil had then became isolated for their opposition to the movement and Congress party itself had to lose political ground to the left in Mumbai. It became imperative for them to use a new force like Shivsena to give a new turn to the movement initiated in the spirit of Maharashtra pride.

The legacy of Maharashtrian pride  was thus cashed by Shivsena in Mumbai. The target of the struggle was cleverly changed from being against the rulers at the center (Congress party at that time) to just against regional outsiders. The agitation which started in asserting the rights of the state vis a vis the center in the spirit of democracy was diverted to locals versus outsiders in exactly the opposite spirit. As Congress encouraged the Shivsena to change the agenda of the regional movement, it also succeeded in isolating the left forces from this movement. Shivsena was only an emerging force then and Congress could benefit by the isolation of the left forces in Mumbai politics. Today in a different political scenario Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is being used by Congress to isolate Shivsena which has posed a serious challenge to the electoral prospects of the Congress Parties in Maharashtra. The same tactics which helped the Sena to emerge as a political force in Maharashtra are now being used against itself. Politics of Raj derives its strength from such tactics in the game of power politics.

Organisations like Shivsena make no bones about the supremacy of the central leader in matters relating to all organizational functioning. As Bal Thackeray has become aged and needs to be replaced, it is obvious that only a single person can hold the ultimate command in his place. Now, we can not forget that such political outfits also have a powerful financial network at their disposal. Therefore the struggle for the leadership of the Shivsena's huge political, organizational network is at the same time a struggle for the corresponding financial gains. As such even when Raj is out of Shivsena, he is still trying to make inroads into the empire of Shivsena by penetrating the various organs like the trade union, student organization, Industrial owners associations et. He is still fighting to cash on the legacy of Shivsena and to isolate Uddhav from the Shivsainiks.  As Shivsena has been emphasizing on the hindu identity for national level political milage, Raj has smartly caught Uddhav on the wrong foot by emphasizing on the marathi identity. MNS is still in its formative period and as such has no national level ambitions at this stage. The slogan of Marathi versus Bhaiyas (people of northern origin) serves the purpose of catching the fascination of the jobless Maharashtrian youth and even of the Shivsainiks under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. Thus Raj is making his claim to political legacy of Shivsena as well. A perfect card for the congress in the state to be used against its most powerful electoral opponent in the state, Shivsena.

Raj has been involved in the affairs of Shivsena along with his mentor Bal Thackeray more seriously even before Uddhav became politically active, and as such had a good grip on the organization. He has a good understanding about the mindset of Shivsainiks and the organizational weaknesses of the party. He played a leading role in spreading the network of Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena in Maharashtra. He therefore had a direct leadership authority over those sections in Maharashtra even after the split from Shivsena. Section of these followers did not join him after the split but a lot of them also remained loyal to him thus providing him a minimum base for his newly formed MNS in the state. There were also some disgruntled elements within the Sena fold, those could have easily walked away with Narayan Rane but formation of MNS slowed down the trend of tailing Rane. Deepak Pyghude a known youth leader of Shivsena from Pune openly sided with Raj and so did some of the erstwhile Sena leaders like Bala Nandgaokar join his flock from Mumbai and Nasik. These are the main areas where his organization has some presence in Maharashtra. The recent agitation has however caught the imagination of the ‘Marathi Manoos’ Maharashtra wide. It has also effectively undermined the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray within his own organization. Thus the battle continues for the claim to the legacy of Shivsena in the state.

The recent agitation against the north Indian students attending entrance exams in Mumbai for the Railway jobs is about an issue that is in no way harming the interests of the Congress in the state. It is also a perfect issue to corner Shivsena. At the time when thousands of Marathi mill workers along with the industrial workers are facing retrenchments and unemployment, this issue in fact has diverted the attention of the youth from those responsible for the unemployment in the state to the innocent outsiders. Ironically these students from Bihar also happen to be the victims of the same UPA policies which are causing unemployment in the country. It serves no purpose at this stage to find any justification of the issues raised by MNS about the manner in which the recruitment exams are being held. The main issue is that a weak and divisive force like MNS is allowed to gain political mileage on a parochial basis. The issue is also about the bias of the state Government and the partisan attitude of the state machinery in favour of MNS as exposed in the recent happenings. The state is seen again and again favouring certain sections of people based on their regional and religious affiliations. The concept of the neutrality of the state in such matters is clearly sidelined during such situations. It makes no difference to the likes of Lalu Prasad Yadav who is crying hoarse in the name of unity of India and Raj Thackeray who is seen to be raising his banner in the name of the Marathi Manoos whether the real issue of unemployment of the poor of both the communities is being solved or not. Their only concern is what political mileage they can draw by creating conflicts.

According to recent report that appeared in the section of the press, Maharashtra has seen more incidents of communal riots in the state than any other state in the country. The ploy of hindu-muslim conflict therefore is not a very attractive option for Congress for polarization of votes. It is also generally seen that such a polarization would actually benefit the BJP-Shivsena combine in the state. At the time when the urban middle class is faced with crashing stock market, inflation, job insecurities and the rural poor is increasingly being pushed towards suicides, people are getting more and more disillusioned with the Congress rule in the state. The state Government has deliberately allowed the impression of being soft on Raj Thackeray to appear to be pro Marathi and to benefit electorally from such an impression. The stage is set for the coming elections and the issue in focus is Interests of the Marathi Manoos against those of the North Indians.

Congress at the center is seen as giving tough orders in the name of nationalism to the state. Congress in the state is seen to be going soft on the violent agitators and accepting the issue of Maharashtrians versus the North Indians as the main plank for the coming elections. It is such a win win situation for the Congress which has successfully created a hurdle in formation of any kind of new alliances in the state. What is more worry some however is that vandalism gets glorified in the process and people lose the sight of their real issues. The struggle for betterment of living conditions of the people gets diverted and suffers a set back in the backdrop of these petty electoral manipulations.

Just as the Hindu right wing organizations have ridiculed and shown utter contempt towards the concept of secularism in the country, MNS sponsored agitations ridicule the concept of people’s unity and democracy. It is not to say that there can be no justification of any agitation for the regional aspiration but the fact of the matter is that the recent agitation in Mumbai is not even serious about the interests of the common Marathi manoos in Maharashtra. The strong point of the politics of Raj is that he has successfully articulated the anxieties and desires of the large amorphous Maharashtrian middle class which plays an important role in politics of urban Maharashtra. He has indulged in conservative populism for creating an impression that he can be the saviour of their interests. He has also made a good use of combining ethnographic material based on Shivaji's life with rhetoric of cultural pride and politics of regional chauvinism. He has not only attracted the privileged groups of Maharashtra fearing encroachment on their positions from the so called outsiders but also the impoverished groups get attracted towards him as he creates an impression that he is warding of the threats to their jobs from the 'outsiders'.

In the current period of globalization where the living conditions of people are steadily deteriorating and Governments are unable to maintain their role as patrons, more and more such agitations are likely to erupt. People will have to be more alert about such diversions in their struggle for a new democratic India, where democracy will not be a sham phenomenon, national pride will mean freedom from subjugation by the imperialists and prosperity will include economic well being of the common people of the country.