In his father's absence, a softer, more accommodating Uddhav Thackeray is struggling to keep his flock together and the party fighting fit in an election year.
Eight leaders have quit since October last, alliance partner BJP no longer wants to play second fiddle, and MNS now is more than a thorn in the side
At the fag end of February, when the Shiv Sena leadership nominated Rahul Narwekar as its candidate for the State Legislative Council, the young Colaba-based lawyer was talking of garnering 29 votes - he was 11 short -- and working for the party. One of the few English-speakers in the Sena, Narwekar was its spokesperson and considered close to Aditya Thackeray.
It all changed within two weeks when Narvekar was asked by party bosses to withdraw his bid for the Legislative Council.
The sulk lasted a few days till Sunday, when he met Sharad Pawar -- his father-in-law is former NCP minister Ramraje Nimbalkar - and announced his switch to NCP on Monday. Panse and Narvekar are the latest in a string of Sena leaders exiting the party with similar grouses - Matoshree's lack of faith in them and alienation.
Uddhav Thackeray has been conducting firefighting operations on several fronts for some time now, but his 'inaccessible' image among party cadre, perceived lack of aggression, a string of high-profile exits over the past year and his inability to take on his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray effectively are going against him.
He is also faced with a suddenly aggressive BJP to toe the line like before. Sainiks with MNS longings and Raj's ever-growing image as Balasaheb Thackeray's natural successor are adding to Uddhav's problems, as do the threat of a BJP-MNS affair and the huge vacuum left by Balasaheb.
The NCP is giving Narwekar a Lok Sabha ticket from Maval, currently occupied by Gajanan Babar who quit the Shiv Sena after being denied a crack at re-election. "I was let down by the party. I was a victim of internal politics. The party fielded me as an official candidate for the Legislative Council polls, but I was made to fight like an Independent. No party leader helped me. I withdrew from the polls after directions from party president Uddhav Thackeray," Narvekar said.
His exit comes within days of that of another Aditya aide and former Vidyarthi Sena president, Abhijeet Panse, who went over to Raj Thackeray's MNS. Raj is fielding Panse from Thane, against Sena's Rajan Vichare.
As Narvekar put it, "I worked for the party for 15 years, but I was abandoned midway. I felt suffocated. Top party leaders who were supposed to help me with the floor management did not even answer my calls. I had no option but to quit. The Sena top brass is responsible for it."
Uddhav inaccessible, passive
When taken together with the exit of key leaders at various levels since October last year when two corporators quit, fingers are being pointed at lack of leadership from party president Uddhav, the most important complaints against whom is lack of accessibility and aggression.
While Balasaheb was alive, the final decisions were taken by him although Uddhav was in command. Leaders who have left the party since Narayan Rane in 2005, including Raj Thackeray, cited differences with Uddhav. Many of these leaders often blamed Uddhav's high profile personal assistant, Milind Narvekar, and the powerful leaders who surround him.
Party sources said that this communication gap with the party chief is faced by most Sainiks, unlike Balasaheb who went beyond leaders and established direct contact with Sainiks at the grassroots level.
Not only his partymen, even BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has complained of Uddhav being inaccessible. His main objection was that as leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, his phone calls were rarely connected to Uddhav. At a recent BJP conclave, Gadkari told workers that the scene had still not improved.
A city BJP leader said that Uddhav is out of reach on most occasions for party workers and cadre. In fact, after the Gadkari-Raj meeting, Uddhav was quoted by Sena mouthpiece Saamana as saying that there is a communication gap with the BJP.
Some of his key aides have parted ways with him, like Kiran Pawaskar, who was also a prominent fundraiser and also a strategist for the party's labour wing. He quit after he fell out with Uddhav and his PA, Narvekar.
"I was handling the Sena's labour wing, but I was being used only for spadework. Whenever there were meetings with top industrialists or for raising funds, I was sidelined and kept out of the loop. The communication gap was only because of certain people at Matoshree, and the leader was hiding his face instead of interacting with party cadre," Pawaskar said.
Which brings it to on-street aggression. Party leaders have complained that under Uddhav, the party is not seen to be as aggressive as it was under his father, the most common example being the poor handling of Balasaheb's memorial at Shivaji Park.
"It was handled by a few leaders who didn't push hard enough. It's been over one year, and despite ruling the BMC, the party has not been able to erect a proper memorial for Balasaheb," said a former shakha pramukh.
After Balasaheb's death in November 2012, insiders say, Uddhav and his team felt Sena's profile should change with the times, and there was a conscious effort to be less aggressive. But this backfired over the Thackeray memorial issue when Shivaji Park residents objected and Sainiks wanted to retaliate but did not get the go-ahead from Matoshree. Uddhav's brother Jayadev, cousin Raj and Sena's Manohar Joshi criticised him for being 'soft'.
Sainiks are known to be streetfighters and need their adrenaline rush at regular intervals. That the biggest such street-level agitation was led by Raj Thackeray against toll collection on highways while the Sena has launched none in two years, hasn't been missed by the Sena rank and file.
"We have not had an agitation that even comes close to MNS's antitoll agitation that shook everyone up," said another party leader.
Eight leaders have quit since October last, alliance partner BJP no longer wants to play second fiddle, and MNS now is more than a thorn in the side
At the fag end of February, when the Shiv Sena leadership nominated Rahul Narwekar as its candidate for the State Legislative Council, the young Colaba-based lawyer was talking of garnering 29 votes - he was 11 short -- and working for the party. One of the few English-speakers in the Sena, Narwekar was its spokesperson and considered close to Aditya Thackeray.
It all changed within two weeks when Narvekar was asked by party bosses to withdraw his bid for the Legislative Council.
The sulk lasted a few days till Sunday, when he met Sharad Pawar -- his father-in-law is former NCP minister Ramraje Nimbalkar - and announced his switch to NCP on Monday. Panse and Narvekar are the latest in a string of Sena leaders exiting the party with similar grouses - Matoshree's lack of faith in them and alienation.
Uddhav Thackeray has been conducting firefighting operations on several fronts for some time now, but his 'inaccessible' image among party cadre, perceived lack of aggression, a string of high-profile exits over the past year and his inability to take on his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray effectively are going against him.
He is also faced with a suddenly aggressive BJP to toe the line like before. Sainiks with MNS longings and Raj's ever-growing image as Balasaheb Thackeray's natural successor are adding to Uddhav's problems, as do the threat of a BJP-MNS affair and the huge vacuum left by Balasaheb.
The NCP is giving Narwekar a Lok Sabha ticket from Maval, currently occupied by Gajanan Babar who quit the Shiv Sena after being denied a crack at re-election. "I was let down by the party. I was a victim of internal politics. The party fielded me as an official candidate for the Legislative Council polls, but I was made to fight like an Independent. No party leader helped me. I withdrew from the polls after directions from party president Uddhav Thackeray," Narvekar said.
His exit comes within days of that of another Aditya aide and former Vidyarthi Sena president, Abhijeet Panse, who went over to Raj Thackeray's MNS. Raj is fielding Panse from Thane, against Sena's Rajan Vichare.
As Narvekar put it, "I worked for the party for 15 years, but I was abandoned midway. I felt suffocated. Top party leaders who were supposed to help me with the floor management did not even answer my calls. I had no option but to quit. The Sena top brass is responsible for it."
Uddhav inaccessible, passive
When taken together with the exit of key leaders at various levels since October last year when two corporators quit, fingers are being pointed at lack of leadership from party president Uddhav, the most important complaints against whom is lack of accessibility and aggression.
While Balasaheb was alive, the final decisions were taken by him although Uddhav was in command. Leaders who have left the party since Narayan Rane in 2005, including Raj Thackeray, cited differences with Uddhav. Many of these leaders often blamed Uddhav's high profile personal assistant, Milind Narvekar, and the powerful leaders who surround him.
Party sources said that this communication gap with the party chief is faced by most Sainiks, unlike Balasaheb who went beyond leaders and established direct contact with Sainiks at the grassroots level.
Not only his partymen, even BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has complained of Uddhav being inaccessible. His main objection was that as leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, his phone calls were rarely connected to Uddhav. At a recent BJP conclave, Gadkari told workers that the scene had still not improved.
A city BJP leader said that Uddhav is out of reach on most occasions for party workers and cadre. In fact, after the Gadkari-Raj meeting, Uddhav was quoted by Sena mouthpiece Saamana as saying that there is a communication gap with the BJP.
Some of his key aides have parted ways with him, like Kiran Pawaskar, who was also a prominent fundraiser and also a strategist for the party's labour wing. He quit after he fell out with Uddhav and his PA, Narvekar.
"I was handling the Sena's labour wing, but I was being used only for spadework. Whenever there were meetings with top industrialists or for raising funds, I was sidelined and kept out of the loop. The communication gap was only because of certain people at Matoshree, and the leader was hiding his face instead of interacting with party cadre," Pawaskar said.
Which brings it to on-street aggression. Party leaders have complained that under Uddhav, the party is not seen to be as aggressive as it was under his father, the most common example being the poor handling of Balasaheb's memorial at Shivaji Park.
"It was handled by a few leaders who didn't push hard enough. It's been over one year, and despite ruling the BMC, the party has not been able to erect a proper memorial for Balasaheb," said a former shakha pramukh.
After Balasaheb's death in November 2012, insiders say, Uddhav and his team felt Sena's profile should change with the times, and there was a conscious effort to be less aggressive. But this backfired over the Thackeray memorial issue when Shivaji Park residents objected and Sainiks wanted to retaliate but did not get the go-ahead from Matoshree. Uddhav's brother Jayadev, cousin Raj and Sena's Manohar Joshi criticised him for being 'soft'.
Sainiks are known to be streetfighters and need their adrenaline rush at regular intervals. That the biggest such street-level agitation was led by Raj Thackeray against toll collection on highways while the Sena has launched none in two years, hasn't been missed by the Sena rank and file.
"We have not had an agitation that even comes close to MNS's antitoll agitation that shook everyone up," said another party leader.
