- Monday, May 05, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
WHILE a tug of war is going on between the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and the rebel faction of legislator Eknath Shinde over the party’s command, experts have said that the rebel faction has little option but to merge with another party even if it has two-thirds majority.
And this viewpoint has brought into discussion another major leader from Maharashtra named Raj Thackeray, who leads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), another offshoot of the Sena. Raj is the cousin of Uddhav and is often called to be the real successor to the firebrand Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the Sena who passed away in 2012.
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According to a report by The Indian Express, Shinde has reportedly spoken to Raj over the telephone apparently to enquire about his health since he had a hip-replacement surgery recently.
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The Shinde-led group claims to have the backing of 40 members of the legislative assembly, more than 40 of whom are from the Sena and the rest either independents or legislators from smaller parties. With the Sena having a total of 55 legislators in the Maharashtra assembly (287 seats), the Shinde faction has more than two-thirds majority (37).
However, the Uddhav-led Sena has refused to give up its control yet and argued on Sunday (26) that the rebel group cannot be recognised as a separate one even if the claims of having two-thirds majority are true and if they did not merge with another party, they would only be disqualified.
In that situation, the rebels are not without any option. The Express cited top sources in the Shinde group as saying that there are three options – the MNS, Prahar Janashakti (the MLAs of this party have already backed the rebels) and the biggest them of all, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi which is also the single largest party in the Maharashtra assembly with 106 seats and requires some 30-odd seats more to make the government.
Deepak Kesarkar, one of the rebel members, was quoted as saying, “We are not going to merge with any party. We are very much a part of the Sena. Since a majority of the members are on our side, we should be considered the real Shiv Sena.”
The BJP looks the natural-most of all the three parties which the rebel group is expected to join. However, despite the fact that both BJP and Sena are Hindu right-wing parties, a section of the rebel group is not too keen to merge with the dominant national party, the Express report added.
“We know if we merge our group in the BJP, it would give us a national identity, and the process will be easy. But we don’t want to lose our individual identity as a regional party,” one of the rebel members said.
The Prahar Janashakti is the least known outfit among the three with just two MLAs. According to the more aggressive members of the Shinde camp, merging with Bacchu Kadu’s party would be seen just as a political compulsion. The scope of the Janashakti’s activism is also very limited to farmers and agricultural issues, etc. unlike the Sena which is more into Hindutva politics.
This leaves the MNS and it looks the best option for the rebels. It has less number of MLAs than even the Janashakti – one – and requires a fresh lease of life but yet Raj Thackeray is a name which can not be written off yet from the list of Maharashtra’s hardline politicians.
Raj and Shinde always had a good relation, according to sources in the Sena. Moreover, the MNS is also a strong critic of the Sena and accuses it of compromising on Hindutva, something the Shinde camp also believes. Besides, if Shinde joins hands with Raj, the legacy of the Thackeray politics could be well served ideologically.
In recent times, talks have been doing rounds that Raj’s MNC could have tactical understanding with the BJP for the municipal elections scheduled in a few months. If Shinde’s camp joins the MNC, it could lead to a broader Hindutva fold which could give a body blow to Uddhav Thackeray’s party in the run-up to the national and Maharashtra elections in 2024.
