Shiv Sena is supporting Congress in by-polls of Palus-Kadegaon constituency. Yes, you read that right. Since the death of party patron Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena seems to have no moral compass left. It is so fearful for its existence that it is readily supporting Rahul Gandhi’s deluded ambitions for the prime ministerial post. Praising the 47 year-old Congress president, the Sena said “Rahul Gandhi today is not the same as he was in 2014. He has become a strong-minded person after bearing so much criticism. He can pose a challenge to the BJP in 2019 and the Gujarat Assembly polls have proved this.”
The Palus-Kadegaon constituency of Sangli district was vacated by the sudden demise of senior Congress leader Patangrao Kadam. Congress with its trademark nepotistic style has fielded Patangrao’s son Vishwajeet Kadam as its candidate for the by-polls. Giving a kick to its own democratic credentials, Shiv Sena argued that due to his father’s tall stature, Vishwajeet should be elected unopposed. “Patangrao’s contribution in the field of education, social and co-operative sectors was immense and he was above party lines. As an obituary to his great work, the election should have been unopposed. But unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening. Anyway, we are announcing our active support to Vishwajeet,” Uddhav said in a press release.
BJP hit back at Shiv Sena calling the move hypocritical and reminding Shiv Sena of its standing in the constituency “They have no existence in the constituency, so the support doesn’t matter. Secondly, if it was the matter of obituary, they would have done the same in Palghar Lok Sabha constituency. But on the contrary, they poached on our candidate and played dirty politics. This is nothing but hypocrisy (sic),” said BJP spokesperson Ram Kadam.
Shiv Sena itself has been turned into a family business with Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray looming large over the party. Uddhav Thackeray is not popular among electorates; he is just enjoying the fruits of his father’s hard work. Aditya Thackeray was made the President of Yuva Sena without any show of heft for a political career. In another blatant show of nepotism, Shiv Sena is fielding Srinivas Wanga, son of late BJP MP Chintaman Wanga, in Palghar Lok Sabha by-election. Palghar constituency (reserved for ST) was vacated when Chintaman Wanga died of heart attack on 30 January in Delhi.
Uddhav Thackeray is so desperate to grab power that he broke a two decade old alliance with BJP in 2014 Assembly elections. The alliance was established between Bal Thackeray and the BJP to stop Congress from getting hold of power. Bal Thackeray was a fierce opponent of the appeasement politics of Congress. The alliance was set on the shared ideology of “Hindutva” and both parties respected each other, but after the death of Bal Thackeray in late 2012 the Shiv Sena is in an ideologically fragile state. Bal Thackeray stood by Narendra Modi even after 2002 Gujarat riots when people even within the BJP were criticizing him. Both enjoyed a very warm relationship, but today the Shiv Sena keeps criticizing PM Modi without any substantial merit.
Since Uddhav Thackeray has taken over reins of the party, it has not achieved any political success. After breaking alliance with BJP in 2014 assembly election, it was reduced to second place with mere 63 seats. This shows that Shiv Sena’s popularity is declining among electorates under the current leadership, and hasty decisions like backing Rahul Gandhi are a sure short way of further alienating its supporters.