With his party’s name and symbol gone, everybody is talking about Uddhav Thackeray’s unending problems. But it is also time someone talked about the challenges before Eknath Shinde, who rose to the CM’s office unseating his then Shiv Sena boss. Recognised by the Election Commission of India as the new chief of Shiv Sena, Shinde has taken away everything possible from Thackeray, and may deny the son of the Sena founder, the late Balasaheb Thackeray, many more things, such as the party shakhas, other properties (barring the Shiv Sena bhavan and mouthpiece Saamana because they are not owned by the Shiv Sena), party funds and legislative offices in the near future. The Shinde group may even create hurdles if Thackeray seeks a party name sounding like the parent party and a symbol akin to the one or the same one he used in the Andheri bypoll. The possibilities are infinite. But, can Shinde really appropriate the legacy of the firebrand Sena founder? In question here is the inheritance the voters are going to decide through the ballot.

The ECI has transferred to the CM the legal rights of the party, leaving a contest to be fought further in the Supreme Court and in the people’s court. One claimant cites the father-son relation. The other swears by the non-genetic one purportedly established by the ideology of the late Bal Thackeray. The litmus test is slated to be held in the local body polls in 2023, and 2024’s Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. And, it is not going to be as easy as Shinde may be thinking. An entire reversal for Shinde’s Sena is expected if the Supreme Court decides in favour of Uddhav, as far as the name and symbol are concerned.