The march taken out by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) last Saturday in Mumbai was the first show of strength by the tri-party alliance after it was ousted from power in Maharashtra in June this year. Although the announced agenda of the march was to demand the ouster of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over his controversial remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji and protest against industrial investments fleeing to Gujarat, the march gave several subtle messages that have triggered discussions in the state’s political corridors.
‘We Are Still Together’
It was a very unusual visual to see workers of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction), the Congress, and the NCP walking together shoulder to shoulder on a three-kilometre patch between south Mumbai’s Nagpada to the CSMT railway station. The leaders of all three parties shared a stage at the endpoint of morcha, where they spoke against the incumbent BJP and CM Eknath Shinde. For the MVA, the display of such bonhomie among leaders and grassroots workers was necessary to downplay the speculation that things were not going well in the alliance. It was also to assert that the upcoming BMC elections and other elections of the civic bodies would be fought by the alliance and all three parties, along with the smaller constituents of the MVA, would contest unitedly against the BJP.
Grassroot Workers Are Loyal To Uddhav
The rally conveyed a message from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) as well. After the rebellion in the party last June, many political commentators began writing obituaries of the Uddhav-led faction, suggesting that Eknath Shinde’s camp might emerge as the successor of the party founder Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. With this march, Uddhav Thackeray attempted to convey that although many MLAs, MPs, corporators and office bearers have defected to the Shinde camp, the grassroot Shiv Sainik is still loyal to him and ready to toil on the ground for the party.
Another Thackeray In Maharashtra Politics?
Another visual that caught the eye of political commentators was the participation of Rashmi Thackeray, Uddhav’s wife in the march. It was the second big event where Rashmi Thackeray was present after the annual Dashera rally a few months ago. This has led to speculation within the political corridors that the Shiv Sena is setting up the ground for her formal entry into politics. So far, she has maintained a low profile and has been keenly following the political developments by remaining behind the curtains. It has been reported that it was Rashmi Thackeray who convinced Uddhav Thackeray to assume CM’s chair after he broke the alliance with the BJP and formed a government with the NCP and the Shiv Sena. When Uddhav became the CM, she was appointed as the editor of the party’s mouthpiece Saamana instead of Sanjay Raut, who held the executive editor’s chair. It was seen as her soft launch in politics.
Although the BJP has downplayed the MVA march, it has given much fodder for discussions to the political commentators and has offered an idea of how the politics of Maharashtra would shape up in the days to come.