In the last few weeks Mumbai was the centre of all the political action. It all started when ShahRukh Khan criticized the IPL for not handling the Pakistani cricketers issue in a proper fashion. This gave Shiv Sena the golden opportunity to start a series of attacks on the actor. This was followed by a bigger thriller- The Rahul Gandhi visit to Mumbai. Shiv Sena had threatened that they won’t let Rahul Gandhi step in Mumbai as he had advocated the idea of ‘India for all’ and ‘Mumbai for all’. The protagonist for all the above cotroversies was none other than Bal Thackeray.
Just to get a sense of Bal Thackeray’s brand of politics, it is important to know how it all began. Thackarey began his career as a talented cartoonist with the Free Press Journal newspaper in the 1950’s. But the ‘politician’ Bal Thackarey was born a decade later in the 60’s. Not surprisingly, it was the Congress that gave Thackarey a free hand to tighten his grip on Mumbai based industrial unions as the CPM influence was growing during the same period. This was done with the intention to safe guard the Congress bastion. Thackarey was leading an anti-migrant campiagn even then. The only difference was that it was against the South Indian & Gujaratis. Thackarey’s claim was that Bombay belonged to Marathis and jobs should be reserved for Marathis not the ‘migrants’.
Thackarey’s main problem is that his outlook & issues have never been consistant. In his four decade political career he has changed his political issues from time to time. After dropping the anti South Indian-Gujarati issue in the 70’s, he shifted his focus on the anti-muslim issue. And as that issue lost steam over the years, he got back to the anti-migrant issue but this time it was against the migrants from U.P & Bihar. Not to forget that some of the other highlights of Shiv Sena have been campaigns against western culture, especially against Valentines Day.
The only consistency that Thackarey has displayed in the four decades while spearheading these issues, are the tools for communication he has used to convey his message. And these tools are- violence, vandalism, hate speeches, vitriolic articles, threats, provocations etc. Thackarey is a staunch believer of hate politics. Many termed him as the ‘remote control’ of Bombay in the 90’s. This was the time when the Shiv Sena was not in power. The Shiv Sainiks never wasted an opportunity when it came to violence. The political class, bollywood, corporate India all shivered in front of him and no one dared to go against his wishes. The question of right and wrong never existed. Thackarey had just one message for everyone- that Mumbai, erstwhile Bombay was Thackarey’s jungle and he was the king.
But a lot has changed over the years. It took Thackarey 30 years from the time of Shiv Sena’s formation in 1966 to capture power. And it took just 5 years to let go of it forever. Even when the Shiv Sena was in power, the party really never did anything significant to uplift the Marathis. Thackarey has never had a real vision, even not for the Marathis. Reservation of jobs for Marathis is hardly a solution. And the kind of jobs which Thackarey is now demanding to be reserved are jobs like that of taxi drivers which in any case not many Marathis are willing to take up.
Even Thackarey’s son Uddav, has proved to be a complete failure. Though he did try to get away with the violent political practices, but with the party failing continuously over the last few years, he has also cracked under pressure. Taking a leaf out of his cousin Raj Thackrey’s book, he too has adopted the same course which his father did 40 years back.
Rahul Gandhi in a matter of four hours made the Shiv Sena realize that their argument has no support. It is about connecting with people. It is true that there was an army of policemen protecting Rahul during his visit, but Rahul in 4 hours was able to strike a chord with the Mumbaikars. By travelling in a local train or going to schools & colleges to interact with youngsters, Rahul connected with all Mumbaikars irrespective of the region or state or religion they belonged to. That is what Thackeray failed to realize over the years. What Rahul did in 4 hours, Thackarey has never been able to do in 4 decades. It’s about feeling the pulse of the people and responding to those aspirations.
So on one hand when icons like Sachin, Shahrukh, Mukesh Ambani talk about 'One India', Thackarey pounces on them forgetting that these people have truly contributed to India unlike Thackarey. Unfortunately we need more of Rahuls to make the Thackareys realize that his brand of politics is over and done with. We need a Mumbaikar Rahul to make him realize that.Unfortunately the likes of Pawar, Chavan and bollywood have made Thackarey live on the myth that he is still the tiger who can control the jungle (Mumbai) by roaring from his den. But someone needs to make him realize that he is now a toothless tiger and the jungle belongs to the lion now. And the lion is none other then the common ‘Mumbaikar’.
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