In a distasteful move, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition government has overturned a stamp duty waiver granted to the RSS-affiliated Research for Resurgence Foundation (RRF) based in Nagpur. As per an official communication released by the Devendra Fadnavis government, the stamp duty waiver was granted for the purchase of 105 hectares of land in Nagpur’s Katol taluka.
The Uddhav Thackeray government has taken this step citing financial strain on the public exchequer. The real reason though seems to be sheer political vindictiveness. The Shiv Sena chief seems to understand that RSS might be unable to pay, and this might end the mark of the facility.
Uddhav Thackeray who has already shown signs of political desperation and vindictiveness now seems to have taken it a step further by even targeting the RSS despite the Shiv Sena being an ideological brother of the former.
The Shiv Sena and the RSS share similar ideological trappings. In fact, in Nagpur, Shiv Sainiks are also Swayamsevaks, but now the Uddhav Thackeray led Sena sees a potential danger in the RSS. After its coalition with the NCP and the Congress, both are staunch opponents of the Hindutva philosophy, the Shiv Sena has already lost whatever political space it enjoyed in the state of Maharashtra.
Having lost political space as a Hindutva party in the state, the Shiv Sena seems to be trying to take on the RSS. This is rather distasteful and could have been avoided. With this shameful act, the growing fears about the Shiv Sena dropping its ideology have got further strengthened. The party is on the verge of becoming a megalomaniac satrap that survives solely on divisive tactics and distasteful political manipulations.
Maharashtra CM seems to have forgotten that RSS remains a far bigger and potent organisation than the Shiv Sena ever will be.
It has indeed been the uniting force for Hindus within India and has been instrumental as the protector of Dharma. It has selflessly worked towards greater consciousness within the Hindu society and the revival of the Indian civilisation. It has stuck to the cause of Hindutva and has single-handedly faced an entire propaganda machinery that has systematically targeted it for sticking to its core philosophy. Not once it has fallen to the temptations of political power unlike the Shiv Sena, which is increasingly becoming an ideology-bereft party just like its coalition partners- the Congress and the NCP.
Just a couple of years ago, Shiv Sena had tried to project the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagvat as a possible Presidential candidate. In fact, it cannot be denied that cordial relations with the RSS have helped Shiv Sena politically over the years as the RSS is the chief representative of the Hindutva philosophy. For years, Shiv Sena has tried to occupy the political spectrum of a right-wing party, even more, right-wing than the BJP and the RSS, but now it is trying to curb right-wing intellectualism itself. Shiv Sena is already facing internal anger and exodus over joining hands with its ideological rivals, as 400 Shiv Sainiks have already joined the BJP. Now, the move of getting vindictive with the RSS is going to be a massive self-goal for Uddhav Thackeray.
