In case you didn’t notice.
Eknath Shinde’s numbers isn’t one of a breakaway faction.
It’s almost the entire Shiv Sena.
The rebel hasn’t wrecked Shiv Sena: He would instead be cherished as its saviour.
Uddhav Thackeray and his progeny neither have the numbers nor the ideology.
It’s voters numbered half of the one of BJP in 2019 so by present equation, Thackerays don’t have even voters on their side—for the chosen ones of masses are majorly in Guwahati presently.
Thus, for the voices in MVA—lend the ear to Sharad Pawar and Sanjay Raut—to claim “murder of democracy” is almost obscene.
For Maharashtra hadn’t voted for NCP and Congress but saw them share power in 2019.
Maharashtra had voted unequivocally for “Hindutva” but saw only the enemies of the ideology rule over them brazenly, without a sense of shame.
The “murder of democracy”, if anything, happened in 2019. If at all, this is “restoration of democracy” for people, the lifeline of democracy, had nothing to do with MVA and its politics of opportunity.
One is not even mentioning the disregard for Veer Savarkar or an uncommon regard paid to a tomb of a certain Mughal emperor in Aurangabad: Or that reciting Hanuman Chalisa could actually land one behind bars.
Nor one’s attention is being drawn to the non-justice to lynched Palghar Sadhus which, under a strident Shiv Sena of Bal Thackeray, would’ve smoked a few cities and brought Maharashtra to a staggering halt.
All that veneer Shiv Sena retained was one of unleashing its men who saw a lot more value in batons and bricks than the process of law on vocal critics.
There alone did it look a part of the original Thackeray.
The corruption too has been far more in face: Be it a SUV laden with explosives outside the residence of one who symbolises India’s wealth; or a home minister who insisted the police looked after him at the expense of the public.
We are not even mentioning the death of a young star, preceded by the one of his secretary, which till now is viewed by people as different from the one offered officially.
And then there was Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Narcotics guys, who just couldn’t run out of stars, be it of political or Bollywood kind.
And oh yes, anyone for the shame of Covid on Maharashtra, second only to Kerala, which is known to everyone but unacknowledged by our pathetic media?
The Future Upon Us
Even if Thackeray survives, it seems certain that MVA won’t as NCP and Congress have run out of road in Maharashtra.
The deference to Bal Thackeray won’t be enough for Shiv Sena rebels to welcome Uddhav back, certainly not at the top, never mind even if he returns to Hindutva with a vengeance.
For Uddhav Thackeray not only dumped the ideology of the party, he had similar disregard for his seniors who found it a double whammy that Aditya Thackeray preened in the power corridors with a sense of ownership.
So NCP and Congress is definitely out; BJP is surely in; and Shiv Sena would survive in power albeit with Uddhav Thackeray cast in the bin or reduced to a comic figure.
Others worried alongside Thackerays, would be Bollywood which is privy to many undocumented tales on the spread of drugs and dark money in India; and certainly Sanjay Raut who would now wake up to find that media has no time for him (Remember Navjot Singh Sidhu who made headlines every day till Congress lost Punjab?).
Thackerays would now be lonely figures, if not tragic, and those who trumpeted their virtues, would now find Mumbai a very hostile place like the one they promised for a certain Kangana Ranaut.
In national terms, it would be a tremendous shot in the arm for BJP, less than two years away from another General Polls.
Already Agnipath and ED-on-Rahul is dumped in inside pages in your newspapers.
Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.
