Uddhav is losing the battle of inheritance, how did Eknath Shinde become the political heir of Bal Thackeray?

There have been no good days for Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra politics since 2022. Sometimes he is losing the party, sometimes the support base. Not in just one election, but in every election, they have to remain marginalized. Not only was the performance of his party Shiv Sena (UBT) poor in the Maharashtra Assembly, he could not keep his party relevant even in the civic elections. It is not that his party’s performance has been bad only in rural areas, the performance of the Uddhav Thackeray led party has been bad in urban areas also. Uddhav Thackeray is losing not only politics but also his legacy, this is being proved in every election of Maharashtra.

Elections were held in 288 bodies in Maharashtra and Shiv Sena (UBT) has won only 8 bodies. Uddhav Thackeray’s party was never in such a weak position. In the year 2022, Eknath Shinde first snatched away his party from him, now he also became the political heir of Bal Thackeray. Eknath Shinde once again brought the same Shiv Sena to a strong position which was made the axis of power in the state by Bal Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray is the son of Bal Thackeray but he is not able to handle his party.

Also read: Maharashtra civic elections: Mahayuti won again and again, MVA lost every time, where was the mistake?

Why has Uddhav Thackeray’s politics been shaken?

Uddhav Thackeray’s father used to do Hindutva politics. He was in such a strong position in Maharashtra that he used to call Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as ‘Kamalabai’ in code word. One of his statements often comes into discussion, when in response to a question he said, ‘Don’t worry about Kamalabai. She will do whatever I say.’ The context was Bharatiya Janata Party. Even when Babri demolition took place in the year 1992, he had said that ‘I had no hand but my foot in the demolition of Babri.’

Bal Thackeray’s nephew Raj Thackeray was also counted among the dynamic leaders of Shiv Sena. He had a good hold on Uddhav in his party. Ignoring his nephew, he handed over the command of the party to Uddhav Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray was with BJP till the year 2019 but when he separated from BJP, his party became marginalized. Eknath Shinde rebelled against him in 2022. Broke the party and formed government with BJP.

The situation is that the old loyal leaders of Shiv Sena are now loyal to Eknath Shinde. His party Shiv Sena, the party’s symbol, the party’s political legacy, all are with Eknath Shinde. Eknath Shinde has reached the position as strong as Bal Thackeray was but Uddhav Thackeray is not able to even find political ground outside Mumbai.

Also read:Mahayuti’s big victory in Maharashtra civic elections, BJP becomes the largest party

Why did people avoid Uddhav Thackeray?

The story of Uddhav Thackeray’s political marginalization lies in his ideology. Uddhav Thackeray, once an important face of Hindutva and Maratha pride, suddenly became secular in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance formed in 2019. He liked the Constitution and the principles of secularism better than Hindutva. The reason was that when Maharashtra elections were held in the year 2019, the NDA alliance got the majority. 56 MLAs of Shiv Sena had won, 105 of BJP. 145 seats are required for majority, NDA had majority. Suddenly Uddhav Thackeray felt that he had to become the Chief Minister.

The NDA alliance won the 2014 assembly elections and Devendra Fadnavis became the CM for the first time. It was surprising for BJP that Shiv Sena was still seeking the post of CM despite weak performance. While talks were going on regarding the consent, Uddhav Thackeray along with Nationalist Congress Party and Congress formed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and came to power. He remained in power for about 2 years but took many steps which marginalized him. This alliance displeased Shiv Sainiks. Shiv Sena supporters have been known for extreme Hindutva and regionalist politics. Congress was not a party of this temperament. He made many compromises to remain in power.

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On one hand, while roaming around Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi would make fun of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, on the other hand, Shiv Sainiks would call him a symbol of Hindutva. Uddhav Thackeray himself took to ‘secular’ politics and started attacking BJP on Hindutva. A large part of Shiv Sainiks were angry with this. He even admitted that it was wrong to link religion with politics. Uddhav Thackeray tried to attract Muslim votes. Broke the alliance for power after not getting CM post from BJP. By staying with Congress-NCP, the image of ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ was spoiled and he campaigned a lot in Muslim settlements. He even said in clarification that we have left not Hindutva, but BJP’s ‘rotten Hindutva’. Public started losing confidence in Shiv Sena.

In the year 2022, Eknath Shinde, angry with Uddhav Thackeray’s politics, broke the party. He said that Uddhav Thackeray has deviated from the basic principles of Bal Thackeray. From Lok Sabha to Assembly, he took Shiv Sena leaders along with him and formed a separate Shiv Sena. He was the leader of opposition from Shiv Sena in the House. By talking about Hindutva, he talked about his natural alliance with BJP. Eknath Shinde comes from Maratha community. He gave a clear message that Bal Thackeray’s descendants will not carry the legacy of his party, but the one who follows his ideology will be his political heir. Eknath Shinde had the old bow and arrow of the party, the old leaders of the party remained, Uddhav Thackeray could neither save the party nor the political ground. The public decided in every election that not the blood of Bal Thackeray, but the person following the ideology of Bal Thackeray is their real heir.

How Uddhav Thackeray reached the margins election after election

• Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Uddhav Thackeray, who was out of power after enjoying two years of power, was confident that the people of Maharashtra would sympathize with him. If his father’s party has been snatched away by BJP-Ekanath Shinde, he will get benefit from it. This did not happen. There was some impact but due to this Shiv Sena did not get much benefit. NDA alliance got 17 seats. There were half less seats than in 2019. The MVA alliance got 30 out of 48 seats. In the year 2019, BJP had won 23 seats, in 2024 it will win 9 seats. Shiv Sena won 7 seats. NCP won one seat. Congress had won one seat in 2019, and will win 13 seats in 2024. Shiv Sena (UBT) got 9 seats and NCP (Sharad Pawar) got 8 seats. Uddhav Thackeray felt that a similar situation would happen in the assembly elections also. It was completely different from this.
   
• Assembly Elections 2025: Uddhav Thackeray was excited with the victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The situation in the Assembly was so bad that the total seats of Maha Vikas Aghadi could not cross 50. Mahayuti alliance won 235 seats. 132 MLAs of BJP won, 57 MLAs of Shiv Sena hoisted the flag of victory. NCP got 41 seats. In sharp contrast, Maha Vikas Aghadi’s Shiv Sena (UBT) was limited to 20 seats, Congress to 16 and NCP (Sharad Pawar) to only 10 seats. Maha Vikas Aghadi could not secure even 50 seats. Uddhav Thackeray, who is claiming the post of CM, is limited to 20 seats.
• Civic Elections 2025: BJP has won in 129 bodies. In this election held in two phases, BJP became the largest. Mahayuti won in more than 200 bodies. Shiv Sena has won in 51 local bodies, while the Nationalist Congress Party has won in 33 bodies. Maha Vikas Aghadi, jointly, has also not been able to cross 50. Congress won in 35 bodies, NCP Sharad Pawar in 8 bodies. Uddhav Thackeray’s party was also reduced to 8 bodies. Uddhav Thackeray, who was marginalized in the assembly and civic elections, was completely rejected by the public. Now Uddhav Thackeray is eyeing the BMC elections to be held on January 15. He may contest the elections along with his cousin Raj Thackeray. In the battle for inheritance, Eknath Shinde has outweighed him.