The political corridors of Maharashtra are witnessing high-voltage drama. Triggered by Shiv Sena’s Cabinet Minister Eknath Shinde who has waged a war against his own party to support the cause of Hindutva, the Maharashtra political crisis does not seem to be heading towards a resolution.
The four prominent names emerging in the crisis are – Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde, Sharad Pawar and Sanjay Raut. While Uddhav Thackeray is doing whatever it takes to save his party, Shinde too is leaving no stone unturned to bring back Hindutva in the Shiv Sena camp. However, there’s one man whose aggression is catching the limelight of the media but as we go deeper, it seems to be of no use because aggression suits the powerful.
Sanjay Raut and his useless aggression
Sanjay Raut is aware that the MVA alliance is not going to remain in power for a long time now. Uddhav faction’s numerous efforts to persuade the Shinde faction have failed and this is what has left Raut jittery. Uddhav Thackeray too appealed to the rebel MLAs to return. Since the efforts have failed, Uddhav’s faction has now resorted to threatening the MLAs of the Shinde camp.
Sanjay Raut too, in an aggressive manner, threatened that Shiv Sainiks would take to the streets against the Eknath Shinde camp. While interacting with the media, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “Eknath Shinde faction that’s challenging us must realise that Shiv Sena workers are yet to come on the roads. Such battles are fought either through law or on the roads. If need be then our workers would come on the roads.”
Maharashtra | Eknath Shinde faction that's challenging us must realise that Shiv Sena workers are yet to come on the roads. Such battles are fought either through law or on the roads. If need be then our workers would come on the roads: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/Cs1CJPvpHE
— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2022
He further added, “Process underway to disqualify 12 MLAs (of Eknath Shinde faction), their numbers are only on the papers. Shiv Sena is a big ocean such waves come and go.”
Process underway to disqualify 12 MLAs (of Eknath Shinde faction), their numbers are only on the papers. Shiv Sena is a big ocean such waves come and go: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut#MaharashtraPoliticalCrisis pic.twitter.com/3WnLs4u0wM
— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2022
You see, Sanjay Raut is now intimidating the Eknath Shinde camp. However, aggression suits only the powerful and not the weak ones.
Maharashtra political crisis
For those unaware, two and a half years back, a winning alliance was broken to crack a backdoor deal leading to the formation of an unholy alliance by the Shiv Sena. It would not be wrong to state that whatever is transpiring today in Maharashtra is nothing but the after effect of the unholy alliance and Uddhav Thackeray’s poor decision-making to ditch the legacy of BalaSaheb. Thus, the ‘ideologically’ committed Shiv Sena, this time, is furious and wants Uddhav Thackeray to claim the legacy of Bala Saheb in a real manner. Since Uddhav was reluctant to do so, it has thrown party Supremo Uddhav under the bus for betraying Hindutva ideology.
The patience of Shiv Sainiks is running thin and thus, the party legislatures have turned rebellion against the all-powerful and “Best” CM Uddhav Thackeray. In Eknath Shinde, they found a leader under whose able leadership, the majority of the party MLAs gradually waged a war against Maharashtra’s coalition government asking it to resurrect the original ideology.
Interestingly, Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena’s star spokesperson can be considered as one of the primary reasons why the party members chose to be rebellious and did not talk to Uddhav. It is being widely reported that just before Eknath Shinde decided to jump ships to create his own camp, he had held a meeting with Sanjay Raut and Aditya Thackeray. According to a report by Indian Express, Shinde did not want the votes of Shiv Sena MLAs to be utilised for the purpose of getting Congress Candidates elected as Member of Legislative Councils (MLCs).
Citing the disagreement in the meeting as the main cause of the rift, source quoted by Indian Express said, “Two days ago, when negotiations were taking place at the Renaissance hotel regarding how the votes were to be used for the Council elections, Shinde had a disagreement with Raut and Aaditya. Shinde was not amenable to the idea of using votes of Sena MLAs to get Congress candidates elected as MLCs. It turned into a heated argument between the two sides. Looking back now, it appears that this could have been a deciding factor (for the revolt).”
Read more: The Thackerays are no more the invincible scion from Matoshree
While the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is seeking the cancellation of membership of several rebel MLAs, minister Eknath Shinde, responded saying that the group led by him is the “real Shiv Sena”.
In a series of tweets, Shinde said, “There are several Supreme Court decisions in this regard. Who are you trying to frighten? We understand your games and law as well. You can’t ask for action against 12 of our MLAs because we are loyal to Balasaheb Thackeray and are the real Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks. In fact, we demand action against you for forming a group despite having no numbers.”
It is evident that Thackeray’s decision to ditch the ideology of Balasaheb has now come to bite him. Everyone has to face repercussions for their actions and Thackeray is no different. Sanjay Raut, however, should avoid this aggression as it makes him come across as a fool only.
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