While the recent BEST credit society election is being touted by the winning BJP as a precursor to the civic elections, the two Thackeray cousins say 12,000 voters don’t represent 1.4 crore Mumbaikars
MNS leader Raj Thackeray (right) with cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray last month. The BEST credit society election was the very first one that the cousins fought together. PIC/By Special Arrangement
It would be erroneous to believe that the BEST credit society polls will decide who occupies the BMC ‘sinhasan’ and runs Mumbai. Based on 12,000-odd votes it would be wrong to gauge the mood of nearly one crore Mumbai voters. There is no doubt that the Shiv Sena’s (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS) performance for the BEST elections was the worst. Still, this cannot be considered as a curtain-raiser for the upcoming BMC elections.
But, if the credit society polls are really an indicator of what could be expected during the upcoming civic polls, then it is clear that the Thackeray cousins and their party leaders have failed to understand the undercurrents. In that case, the road to the BMC may well be the toughest ride yet for Uddhav and Raj.
The Thackeray cousins-led panel has drawn a blank in the elections. The results have not only left a mark on the ‘Thackeray brand’, but has even shown that in the battle of perception, former Shiv Sena chief the late Bal Thackeray’s son and nephew’s unity is yet to hit the right note.
Usually, no one pays much attention to credit society elections. But, this time both the ruling BJP and the Uddhav and Raj camp made the elections look like a bigger poll on purpose. The motive was clear: use the results to create a perception battle, because that’s what Mumbai’s ‘Rajneeti’ has turned into now.
The BEST is never just another election. After all, it once gave Mumbai several leaders like the late Sharad Rao and many Shiv Sena leaders, including leaders like Narayan Rane, who began as Shiv Sainik, rose as BEST chairman and went on to become chief minister of Maharashtra. Now, Rane is a senior BJP leader.
The setback for Thackeray has come at a time when identity politics is already running high. The Mira Road language row, the pigeon feeding controversy and the state government’s push to introduce Hindi in schools have all stoked Marathi versus migrant tensions. In each case, BJP leaders and the Thackeray cousins clashed in a war of words. This has set the stage for the BMC election to be framed as Marathi pride versus development.
The cousins are banking on an emotional appeal and perception that locals are losing their dominance to migrants residing in the city. On the other side, the BJP-Shinde Sena will be focusing on big development and exposing alleged misrule of Shiv Sena (UBT) in the civic body.
With a shrinking Marathi population and weakening of their party, the Thackeray cousins buried their differences of 20 years and came together for the Marathi cause.
The credit society was the first election that the cousins decided to fight together. On paper, the political calculations looked promising with 15,093 eligible voters that has over 85 per cent Marathi speakers.
Of this, 12,366 exercised their voting right on Monday. But, the results stunned those in the Thackeray camp. The Shashank Rao-led panel swept 14 seats. The remaining were won by a panel backed by member of legislative council (MLC) Prasad Lad. Both Rao and Lad are BJP leaders from Mumbai. The UBT-MNS alliance didn’t win a single seat of the 21 it contested.
The credit society election has hardly any impact outside the BEST Undertaking. But, the results are now being used to set narratives for the 227-seat BMC election and for the remaining 28 municipal corporations.
BJP is seen engaged in setting a narrative. Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar mocked the Thackeray cousins claiming it as a victory for Mumbai and the Marathi people. In fact, in a sarcastic comment on the cousins coming together, the leader even stated that if one zero is added to another zero, the numerical value remains zero.
Stung by the humiliation, the Thackeray camps defended themselves claiming that the results cannot be read as a curtain raiser for the BMC polls.
Raj Thackeray dismissed the result terming it as a small credit society election. His nephew Aditya, Uddhav Thackeray’s son, called the polls a mere trial ball of the larger game ahead. Despite calling small elections, both the Thackeray camps came out to issue clarifications, underlining the weight of the loss.
Since 1992, the Shiv Sena has been in power in the BMC. Till 2017, the BJP was its ally. But, that year the alliance broke and both parties fought separately. The Sena won 84 seats, while BJP bagged 82. The MNS managed seven. Later, within months, six of those MNS corporators joined Uddhav’s camp.
In 2022, Eknath Shinde engineered the split in Shiv Sena. Of the 84 Sena (undivided) corporators, over 53 of them have left the party and joined Shinde Sena. This has left Uddhav in a do-or-die fight to hold on to the BMC.
The municipal corporation has an annual budget of over Rs 74,000 crore. No wonder, despite 20 years of separation, Uddhav decided to bury his differences with cousin Raj and explore an alliance with the MNS.
As the BEST election was seen as a proxy contest, the outcome has come as a perfect opening for the BJP and allies to design a narrative ahead of the big BMC battle.
Now, if the Thackeray cousins don’t move fast and prepare their respective parties for a ‘Saamna’ with the BJP and if power in the BMC slips into the hands of their ‘enemy’, it would be the biggest blow for the Thackeray cousins in Mumbai.
Sanjeev Shivadekar is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @SanjeevShivadek
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.
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