After an almost lost legal battle to regain control over party and with allies who are reluctant to project him as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the alliance, Uddhav Thackeray is all set to fight the do-or-die battle of his political career in this assembly election. The question remains whether he will be able to shed the image of an incompetent CM and repeat the charisma he shown in 2014.
After BJP under Narendra Modi swept the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the results of Maharashtra assembly had become clear and Uddhav Thackeray had sensed that his party stands a good chance to get a bigger share in power. The state BJP was trying to shed its ‘younger brother’ image within the alliance, which didn’t go well with Shiv Sena and both the parties contested assembly polls independently. That was the first assembly election when Bal Thackeray was not there to guide the party. Uddhav’s strategy to severe ties with the BJP won 63 MLA to his party and his leadership was established in the state politics in real sense. If he is able to repeat a similar performance this time, his chances of ruling the Maharashtra once again would be very high. But, if he couldn’t do it that might mark an end to his political career.
In 2014 Uddhav reluctantly allowed his party to join the BJP government under Devendra Fadnavis, but kept criticizing the government over an array of issues including the Metro 3 car shed at Aarey. Ultimately in 2019 he walked out of the alliance over the issue of rotational chief ministership. The Congress and NCP, for whom chances to get back to power were meek, sensed a chance and made Uddhav head the coalition government. Though much of next two and half years of his tenure as chief minister were wasted due to COVID-related restrictions, his government came under heavy fire for corruption from the outside, by opposition BJP, and for not following Hindutva agenda, from within, by likes of Eknath Shinde and others.
Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to resign without going in for floor test came under heavy criticism from all sides. However, he was undeterred. “In a democracy, heads are counted to show numbers. I am not interested in that. I don’t want to play these games,” he said tendering his resignation to the governor in June 2022. While many interpret this as his unwillingness to accept challenges and fight fiercely, others feel that this shows his different style, where he would think over the situation and meticulously plan the micro strategy to overcome the adversity.
If the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) performs well in the assembly polls, it would bolster the party’s claims of being the only inheritor of Bal Thackeray’s legacy. However, the challenges are huge.
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