Uddhav Thackeray To Become Abhimanyu In Mumbai's Mahabharata

Uddhav Thackeray. ( Image Source :Getty )

In upcoming Mumbai Municipal Corporation polls, Uddhav Thackeray is likely to find himself trapped in a maze, like Abhimanyu, a character in the epic Mahabharata. Abhimanyu was entrapped in a maze by people who were his relatives and acquaintances. Similarly, a maze is being readied for Uddhav as well by his erstwhile associates.

Last Friday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis shared a stage to participate in Deepotsav. The event at this central Mumbai ground has been celebrated on the occasion of Diwali by Raj Thackeray for the last ten years, but this time it created a buzz as the top leaders of three different parties came together. Although no political remarks were made during the event, the picture of the three leaders together created a flutter in the political corridors. The get-together of these stalwarts is seen as a preparatory groundwork for the BMC elections which are likely to be held earlier next year.

More or less, it has been finalized that the BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena are going to contest the elections in an alliance. Although Raj Thackeray recently instructed his cadres to prepare for fighting the elections independently, the grapevine in the political circles tells that the BJP is going to make some tacit arrangement with him. Recently, the growing proximity between the BJP and Raj Thackeray has been the talk of the town. The BJP could effectively use Raj Thackeray’s MNS to divide the Marathi votes on which Uddhav’s faction heavily relies upon. Raj Thackeray has nothing to lose. In the 2017 BMC elections, his party won 7 seats out of 227. Out of these 7 corporators, 6 defected to the Shiv Sena. Now left with just one corporator, Raj Thackeray is seeking an opportunity to revive his party by making overt or covert arrangements with Fadnavis and Shinde.

In such a scenario, Uddhav, just like Abhimanyu, has to face a maze created by his cousin Raj Thackeray, erstwhile confidant Eknath Shinde and political partner till 2019, Devendra Fadnavis. Who is on Uddhav’s side? The Mahavikas Aghadi has two major constituents–the NCP and the Congress. However, the NCP has just a nominal presence in Mumbai and could be of a little help, whereas the Congress in the city is plagued with sordid infighting. In such circumstances, it would be interesting to see how Uddhav can break the maze.