The Bharatiya Janata Party – Shiv Sena alliance
government was in power during 2014 to 2019 when a lot of developmental works
were undertaken in the state. Owing to these and other positive changes and for
preserving the Hindutva philosophy under the abled leadership of the then chief
minister Devendra Fadnavis, the people in Maharashtra once again voted in
favour of him during the 2019 Assembly elections. But Shiv Sena chief Uddhav
Thackeray, who was in alliance with the BJP during the period 2014 to 2019
rejected the mandate given by the people in 2019 elections and betrayed the
people of Maharashtra to get chief minister’s post. This led to immense
discontent which kept simmering in the minds of the Shiv Sainiks during the
latter’s two-and-a-half years tenure under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
The outburst led to a historic revolt under the leadership of Eknath Shinde.
And finally on June 30, Mantralaya and Maharashtra got a new government under
the leadership of Eknath Shinde.
This new Shiv Sena-led government under the leadership of
Shinde came to power in Maharashtra with the support from Bhartiya Janata
Party. When Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the deputy chief minister, not just
the general public but even the media raised their eyebrows and were left
shocked. This incident has marked a noble vision of morality in politics, which
is the first of its kind in the country. In order to dethrone the parties who
were rejected by the people of the state and to help those who believe in the
interests of the Hindutva and those who strive to work for the development of
the state, Devendra Fadnavis opted to step down and take up the responsibility
of deputy chief minister of the state. By doing so, he not just nurtured BJP’s
culture of sacrifice but he also set an example as to how he and his party
supports those who care and prioritises the development of the state. In the
current scenario where greed of power haunts people, Devendra Fadnavis created
a new culture in politics. By supporting the Shiv Sena MLAs who left their party
on the issue of Hindutva, the BJP has once again proved its loyalty to its
ideological values. On this occasion, people witnessed stark difference between
the ideologies of both Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis. On one hand
there was Uddhav Thackeray and his Shiv Sena, who for his greed for power, did
not mind putting Hindutva to stake whereas on the other hand there is BJP’s
Devendra Fadnavis who did not mind sacrificing the chief ministerial position
in the state.
In order to fight for the rights of the Marathi Manoos,
Balasaheb Thackeray had founded Shiv Sena in 1966 which later brought the
ideology of Hindutva to the forefront of politics in 1986. People still
remember how the Shiv Sainiks had strongly propagated its Hindutva stance when
it did ghantanaad for the prayers at the temple at Durgadi fort in Kalyan
exactly during the Namaaz time. But unfortunately, Uddhav Thackeray seems to
have forgotten and wrapped the Hindutva ideology the moment he assumed power
under the Aghadi government. During his very first speech in the Assembly,
Uddhav Thackeray admitted that it was their mistake ‘to combine both religion
and politics’. And in admitting this, he placed Shiv Sena among its allies –
Congress and Nationalist Congress Party who work on pseudo secularism and
proved that his party supremo Balasaheb’s Hindutva ideologies now hold no say
in Shiv Sena’s current politics. Those Shiv Sainiks who believed in the
charisma of Balasaheb’s supreme leadership and had immense faith in Balasaheb,
had joined hands with the BJP and came to power. But Uddhav Thackeray, who came
in power with MVA, confessed that mixing the politics with Hindutva was a
mistake. Thackeray, not just compromised Balasaheb’s Hindutva while striking an
alliance with Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar, but quashed and overturned
ideology on several occasions during the last two-and-a-half years of being in
power.
Several examples of this kind of a behaviour can be seen
during Uddhav Thackeray’s two-and-a-half years tenure as the chief minister. He
failed to realise that his double standards of calling out for Hindutva but not
bothering about injustice to Hindus will deter the staunch Shiv Sainiks, who
are not just the followers of Hindutva but they, even today, believe and follow
Balasaheb and his ideology. In his struggle to retain power, he preferred to
betray the sentiments of his staunch Shiv Sainiks instead of breaking ties with
his allies. The Congress-NCP appreciated his new avatar and for two-and-a-half
years kept intoxicating the belief that ‘anti-Hinduism is the highway to
power’. But the moment he got a hint of rebellion, he once again began cashing
on the Hindutva issue. And this paved a way for his taunting speeches where he
began mocking Hindutva. He had said, “Our Hindutva is not about sporting a pony
tail (‘shendi’) or wearing sacred thread (‘janeu’). It is about wielding the
cosh (‘gadaa’).” He did not even want to hide the ugly casteism in his satire.
This was an attempt to target a particular group by creating caste differences
among Hindus.
Uddhav Thackeray, during his tenure only made deceptive
roar for Hindutva. Instead of initiating drastic steps to punish the accused,
he chose to remain silent on the massacre of innocent hindu sadhus in Palghar.
Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana also ridiculed the nation-wide fundraising drive
for the construction of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He also got several
devotees of Lord Ram, who were expressing their contentment on the bhoomipujan
of the temple, arrested. There was a time, when at the behest of Shiv Sena
supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, millions of people would take to the streets to
chant the Maha Aarti. But the party’s new leadership was petrified when the
Rana couple decided to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside his residence. His
government termed ‘chanting of Hanuman Chalisa on roads in Maharashtra’ as a
crime and got offences registered against the husband-wife duo. A mercenary
force was deployed to teach them a lesson. And that is how Uddhav Thackeray
unveiled the ‘Congress face’ of the Shiv Sena. During the pandemic period,
since the temples and other religious places were shut, thousands of small
businesses thriving outside the temples across the state were left to suffer.
But this outcry of the common man failed to reach Thackeray as he had turned a
deaf ear owing to his anti-Hindu stance to appease his allies. Exactly during
this time, he gave permission to re-open liquor shops and once again proved
that Hindu sentiments hold no place in his politics.
Thackeray’s anti-Hindu stance was backed by his party’s
self-proclaimed global spokesperson and as a result it went far away from
Balasaheb’s Hindutva ideology. It may be recalled that during the by-elections
held in 1988, it was Balasaheb Thackeray who had preached ‘Garv se kaho hum
Hindu hain’ (Say it with pride that I am a Hindu). He was capable of getting
thousands of Hindus on the streets to chant the Maha Aarti and thus had become
the ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’. Unfortunately, during his son’s tenure as the head
of the state, Balasaheb got coined as ‘Janab Balasaheb’. Uddhav Thackeray began
propagating ‘god is not restricted to temples’, ‘shendi-janeu Hindutva’, ‘keep
your religion at home’, ‘wrap up your almanac’, ‘forget your festivals’, etc.
Competitions to play Azan began. After the violence in some cities in
Maharashtra which was based on a rumour of demolition of a religious place in
Tripura, instead of taking action against the rioters under the leadership of
Raza Academy, offences were registered against the Hindu activists who took to
the streets for self-defence. Thackeray left no stone unturned in overturning
Balasaheb’s Hindutva ideology.
Uddhav Thackeray, during his tenure as the chief
minister, often spoke about Hindutva, but in reality, gave up on the pro-Hindu
philosophy. Also, during his tenure all the developmental activities had come
to a standstill. He exercised politics of hatred and deprived Maharashtra of
various developmental works. The Metro project, which is an important stage in
the development of Maharashtra got stalled. Also, the agriculture schemes that
would have contributed to the self-reliance of the farmers got suspended. The
people of Maharashtra saw the fuss created by the ministers and leaders of this
Aghadi government. The BJP was forced to form a government that would free the
state from the shackles of such an anarchy and to re-open the blocked path of
development for the state. Since BJP’s ideology revolves around public
interest, developmental works and Hindutva philosophy, the party decided to
give top priority to safeguarding the interests of the people rather than
fighting for the top position in the government. The sacrifice made by Devendra
Fadnavis for the sake of the party, country and the interests of the state has
become a matter of pride not just for the BJP but for every citizen who
believes in civilised politics. There is no doubt that every citizen of
Maharashtra will hold pride and respect in their minds for Devendra Fadnavis.
(Pre-Published in
Times of India, 04 July 2022)
-
Keshav Upadhye, Chief spokesperson
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