Uddhav Thackeray: Forced to become CM, now forced to resign

In his third emotional appeal to the public just a little before midnight on Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned from the top post with a heavy heart.

The son of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray — and the first of his family to ever hold public office — Uddhav’s political reign as CM was short-lived as the “unnatural” alliance with NCP and Congress — two of its biggest political rivals in the state — which it had entered into in 2019 to promulgate the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in a bid to snatch power from the BJP, its oldest coalition partner in the state.

Over the last few weeks, the Aghadi had been shaken by cross-voting that took place in the Rajya Sabha as well as legislative council polls, losing out to the BJP on both occasions.

Last Monday, senior Sena leader and ex-party whip Eknath Shinde, the strongman from Mumbai’s neighbouring city Thane, went incommunicado with around 30 MLAs from the party. A day later, the MLAs had reportedly made their way to a hotel in BJP-ruled Gujarat, where Shinde and his breakaway faction camped for almost a week as they announced their open rebellion to the country.

After nine days of trying to stitch up and gather the numbers to have a majority in the Assembly — which included seeking the disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs — the 62-year-old Uddhav drove down himself to Raj Bhavan on Thursday night along with his sons Aaditya and Tejas and handed over his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh  Koshyari after the Supreme Court ordered an urgent floor test to be held between 11 AM and 5 PM Friday.

“Many Shiv sainiks were made big by Shiv Sena chiefs…but they seem to have forgotten this,” he said during his final interaction with the public before handing in his resignation. “How many MLAs are there in a democracy is just a matter of measuring heads. Shame on me if even one (of us) stands up against me. Let him (Shinde) have the virtue of bringing down the son of Balasaheb Thackeray. I don’t want to snatch their (Shinde camp’s) happiness.”

The reluctant leader

Having graduated from Mumbai’s JJ School of Arts, with Photography as his major, Uddhav’s role in politics was (voluntarily and primarily) confined to the background of party politics and photo ops as centre stage and limelight remained on his father and cousin Raj Thackeray, with the latter touted to be the successor to the Sena throne.

However, blood is thicker than water — and in 2006, Balasaheb proved the same when he chose a politically unmotivated Uddhav to take over Shiv Sena, resulting in Raj quitting the party and forming his own political outfit, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Also read: Uddhav backstabbed by own leaders; I had faced same situation: Chirag Paswan

In the long run, Uddhav has proved himself to be a better politician than his cousin, given that he has managed to keep Sena politically relevant and in power even after the demise of his father and the quitting of Raj. After a short burst of immediate glory, Raj’s party saw itself head into a dark tunnel — devoid of assembly seats and even corporators — from which it has not quite bounced back yet.

Not the first time

This wasn’t the first time Uddhav witnessed a rebellion. During his tenure, senior Sena leaders such as Chhagan Bhujbal and Narayan Rane had defected.

But Shinde’s calculated revolt, with the outside support of the BJP, which has been eyeing Maharashtra ever since it lost power in the state in 2019, cost the Sena 39 of its 55 MLAs, leaving the party with just four Shiv Sena ministers in the Maharashtra Cabinet.

Uddhav’s tactical approach during the COVID pandemic and his management of the state’s healthcare system was widely hailed and lauded for being pragmatic, timely, and cost-efficient. But given his own health conditions, which included a spine surgery that kept him from meeting people through most of last year, gave the Opposition ammo to term him as a work-from-home chief minister.

Against the core

One of the other reasons cited by the rebel camp as to why they chose to quit the party was because the Sena had allegedly diluted its Hindutva character by allying with NCP and Congress. After all, both, Uddhav and his son Aaditya have none of the fiery ferocity that is commonly seen among Sena leaders and their rank and cadre.

In what can be termed as a last-ditch attempt to establish the Sena as a party built on Balasaheb’s Hindutva ideals, the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government passed a proposal on Thursday to rename Aurangabad city as Sambhajinagar — a longstanding “dream” of the party founder.

“Mumbai strives for Hindutva,” he said on Thursday night. “I am not scared. I have the sweetness and love of Shiv Sainiks.”

Also read: What’s the secret of Uddhav’s calmness? It’s the Shiv Sena cadres

He told the public on Thursday night that the one positive thing to have come out of the current political crisis is that it has brought the common sainiks — who form an internal part of the Sena’s structure — closer to him.

The NCP has been dubbed as the main villain for triggering Shinde’s rebellion, amid other factors.

Shinde’s faction alleges that it was humiliating to stand in line and be made to wait outside Matoshree (Uddhav’s residence) and Varsha (CM’s official residence) while NCP leaders walked in and out as they pleased. Shinde also alleged that funds weren’t disbursed by NCP leader and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to Sena MLAs on time.

However, this isn’t Uddhav’s last political breath.

With multiple municipal elections upcoming in the state, it will be interesting to watch—if and how—Uddhav and his band of Sena loyalists bounce back from this huge setback.