In a decisive verdict after the bitter break up within the Shiv Sena in June 2022, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena can lastly declare the title of the “real” Sena — the occasion gained 57 of the 81 seats it contested within the Maharashtra meeting elections, battering the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which managed simply 20 of the 95 it contested.
Shinde constructed a picture of an ‘accessible leader’, making himself accessible to his office-bearers, MLAs and customary folks. (ANI)
It’s a victory of a magnitude that permits Shinde to convincingly set up his declare to the legacy of the Shiv Sena ideology. It additionally re-establishes Shinde’s Sena as one of many strongest allies of the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP) within the Nationwide Democratic Alliance (NDA).
When Shinde break up the undivided Sena in 2022, he took 40 MLAs and a few Independents with him, resulting in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led authorities within the state. Shinde then joined the BJP to type a brand new authorities as chief minister. The battle between him and Thackeray has since been a bitter one, with each Uddhav, the son of Sena founder Bal Thackeray, and Shinde, who claims to be Bal Thackeray’s ideological legatee, claiming that their respective factions greatest symbolize the occasion and its values.
Within the Sena vs Sena struggle in these elections, the 2 factions went face to face in 51 meeting constituencies throughout the state.
The Sena has gained a staggering 27 of the 39 seats towards the Sena (UBT), which gained the remainder simply 12. One seat, Sangola, was gained by Babasaheb Deshmukh (PWP candidate), sitting Shiv Sena MLA Shahaji Patil got here second there, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Deepak Salunkhe completed third.
Within the Lok Sabha elections, in 13 Sena vs Sena contests, the Shinde faction gained seven seats and Uddhav faction six.
So, what did Shinde do proper this time to tug away? After saying and implementing the Mahayuti’s flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana for girls simply earlier than the meeting elections — it provides ₹1,500 per 30 days to ladies who belong to economically weaker part with annual revenue beneath ₹2.5 lakhs — Shinde unveiled a collection of welfare schemes geared toward numerous sections of society, from dwelling guards, kotwals, anganwadi staff, and enabled the organising of firms throughout communities.
He additionally led a particularly aggressive marketing campaign, consistently reminding the folks of the monetary advantages his authorities had introduced, and the way they must forfeit all that in the event that they voted the MVA alliance to energy.
When he break up the Sena to hitch the BJP, Shinde was not seen as a mass chief past his personal bastion of Thane. In his early political battles, like in his speech on the annual Dussehra rally of the Sena in 2022, he even underlined his limitation as an orator. So he constructed a picture of an “accessible leader” as an alternative, making himself accessible to his office-bearers, MLAs and customary folks. Shinde began calling himself “common man”, as an alternative of “chief minister”, scoring huge win towards Uddhav Thackeray, who was not straightforward to succeed in.
There was additionally a regional plan to take management.
Quickly after he grew to become chief minister, Shinde made certain his faction would face no problem from the Sena (UBT) in his bastion of Thane and within the Konkan belt by inducting many of the functionaries from the Thackeray faction into his occasion. Then, to create a base for his management in Mumbai, Shinde assigned his son, Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde, the crucial activity of inducting former corporators and occasion office-bearers from the Sena (UBT) into the Shiv Sena.
Prakash Akolkar, a senior political analyst and creator of Jai Maharashtra, a e-book on the Shiv Sena, mentioned these elections haven’t solely cemented Shinde’s declare to the Shiv Sena’s ideology, they are going to probably create extra bother for Uddhav Thackeray.
“The Election Commission of India has already awarded the party name and symbol to Shinde. With this massive victory, Shinde will claim that he has the people’s mandate and that his is the ‘real’ Shiv Sena. Uddhav Thackeray will have to face new challenges to keep his MLAs with him,” Akolkar mentioned.