BMC polls next battle line: Can Uddhav Sena retain their stronghold?

Many pundits predicted that pundits predicted the end of Uddhav Thackeray's political career due to the recent political crisis in Maharashtra. Can the Shiv Sena retain their stronghold in the BMC polls?

William Shakespeare, in his play The Tempest, said, “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows”, as we have seen the current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who claimed he was suffocated in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of a three-party alliance. His defence has been the alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was against the Hindutva ideology. He also complained about being kept away from the top post.

After the June political crisis in Maharashtra when Shinde rebelled and took along many legislators with him to bring down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and won the floor test on June 30, it seemed like it was all over for ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray. Many pundits predicted the end of Uddhav’s political career too. Especially since the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are a few months away. Well, this we have been hearing since February that the elections are around the corner, not realising the political storm brewing.

What will be the impact on Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena party and the defected 42 legislators in the future elections? Of these, only two are from Mumbai -- Mangesh Kudalkar (Kurla) and Sada Sarvankar (Mahim). Sarvankar, in fact, had backed Uddhav and the Sena when the rebellion had broken out. Many Sainiks and political observers still believe Sarvankar defecting isn’t that simple. There is a lot more than meets the eye.

Now let’s take a closer look at the current scenario. Uddhav has gone on a long leave of absence from the government and public politics, seemingly. His son and former cabinet minister, Aaditya, is diligently attending the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly. In these few days, we have witnessed a new CM and his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to some pundits, he calls the shots for the new government and the CM.

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Bharat Gogavale, the new whip of the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena, issued notices to disqualify all Sena legislators who had defied the whip during the trust vote. But guess what, the whip omitted Aaditya’s name from this list; he said it was out of respect for Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

It does seem like politics makes strange bedfellows. Except for one legislator from Thane and the two from Mumbai, most Uddhav Sena defectors are from the rest of Maharashtra. The BMC elections, too, are not yet announced. A lot can happen and probable theories are already doing the rounds. However, one thing is clear, even before this government has been formed, the end has been predicted. There seems to be a resignation of sorts by Shiv Sainiks who otherwise would have been on the roads, holding the city to ransom. None of this has really happened and the events since the defection leave a lot to be said.