Uddhav Thackeray put his weapons down and thence the Mahabharata for power

 

The Supreme Court’s verdict that the Shinde-Fadnavis government is constitutional shattered hopes and aspirations of many. Till 11 am on the day of the verdict self-proclaimed ‘Rokhthok’ kept repeating that 16 MLAs will be disqualified and that the Shinde-Fadnavis government will collapse. In fact, this congregation had been constantly making these predictions since the past couple of months. And all of them were brought to reality by this one judgement of the Supreme Court. Reactions to this verdict, opinions and analysis will continue to emerge for at least some more time. But what surprises me is that Uddhav Thackeray immediately jumped in and reiterated his ‘talks on ethics and morality’. I guess only he qualifies to be the real ‘Natasamrat’ (king of all actors) for emoting such a drama in front of the people.

The legal and constitutional aspects of this verdict will gradually become clear and I do not wish to delve into its legalities but take you through the series of events that led to this ‘Mahabharata sequel’ in current times. And Uddhav Thackeray became its reason. We have all heard and read stories about how the Kurukshetra War, also called the Mahabharata War happened because the Pandavas did not get their rightful kingdom. Here, Uddhav Thackeray simultaneously played the roles of Duryodhana, Dushasana and Shakunimama during his two-and-a-half years tenure in Maharashtra.

And hence, at this juncture I am reminded of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, who during the 90s, had ably shouldered Hindutva ideology. People will recollect that during the 1987 by-elections to the Vile Parle Assembly seat, Balasaheb had advocated Hindutva and appealed to the voters to make Dr. Ramesh Prabhu victorious and Dr. Prabhu indeed won. But his selection was challenged in the court. At that time, the court maintained that since the issue of ‘Hindutva’ was used to appeal voters, Dr. Prabhu’s selection will be cancelled. The court had also revoked selection of leaders like Manohar Joshi and Subhash Desai on similar grounds. In fact, it was the Congress government that had reasoned that since Balasaheb had used ‘Hindutva’ ideology while campaigning, he must be debarred from casting his vote. But revered Balasaheb did not budge and continued his fight for ‘Hindutva’. In fact, he always remained loyal to ‘Hindutva’, till he breathed his last.

But unfortunately, Uddhavrao compromised this ‘Hindutva’ and allied with the Congress and NCP. Maharashtra saw how he contested elections with the Bharatiya Janata Party, he used Narendra Modi’s name during the Lok Sabha elections and Devendra Fadnavis’s name during the Assembly elections and later how he allied with the Congress and NCP who are anti-Hindutva only to retain the post of chief minister. I am sure it must have been difficult for Balasaheb’s Shiv Sainiks to tolerate this backstabbing to the BJP and thence the revolt.

Also, Uddhav Thackeray should not have resigned had he believed that betraying the BJP was his right decision. But instead of showing the courage to continue, he resigned and ran away from the battlefield. I do not think that he came under any guilt or he realized his mistake because if he had

such a sensitive mind, he wouldn’t have, in the first place, shown the audacity of contesting elections in alliance with BJP and later allied with Congress-NCP to form the government.

Recently, we all heard Uddhav Thackeray’s statement “It was unethical to move the vote of confidence especially when some of my colleagues stood against me and hence, I resigned.” I am once again compelled to cite a reference from Mahabharata – when Arjuna saw his cousins and other near and dear ones standing in opposition on the battlefield, he didn’t know how to fight them. But Lord Shri Krishna’s advice to Arjuna explains us the true essence of human life. Lord Krishna had said, “Arjuna! As a Kshatriya, it is your duty to fight. And you must do it. If you run away from the battlefield, people will call you a deserter. You must not give up on performing your karma (duties), you may give up on the fruits from this karma. Don’t fight for victory, fight because it is your duty.”

Had Uddhav Thackeray been honest towards his stance, he wouldn’t have run away and instead would have got the confidence motion passed without thinking about its consequences (victory or defeat). And later he rushed to the Supreme Court. He didn’t even dare to say “Now I will fight in people’s court.” People will also recollect how in 1988, when one vote got split during the Thane Mayoral election, revered Balasaheb had asked all the corporators to resign. This was Balasaheb who showed through his actions that he never cared much for power and here is Uddhavrao, who betrayed BJP for power.

Now here are some interesting facts about the court’s verdict – Uddhav Thackeray had asked the Supreme Court to disqualify 16 MLAs, which was rejected by the court. The court rejected his demand to cancel the election of the Speaker of the Assembly. The court also did not accept Uddhav Thackeray’s plea to bring him back to power neither did it accept his plea that the Shinde-Fadnavis government is unconstitutional. Despite all this, Uddhav Thackeray and his aides kept claiming that it was their victory.

Here, I am once again reminded of an incident from Mahabharata. During the battle, one of the wheels of Karna’s chariot got stuck in the ground. Karna got down from the chariot to fix it. He put his bow and arrow aside and started pulling it out. Considering it the most opportune time, Shri Krishna asked Arjuna to shoot an arrow at Karna. At that time Karna reminded Krishna that ‘According to dharma, it is inappropriate to target a soldier who is not carrying any weapon.’ To this Krishna said, “that when all the Kauravas ganged up to kill Abhimanyu, who was alone, Radhesuta, where was your dharma at that time? Where was your dharma when Pandavaas were cheated upon and usurped their kingdom?” Uddhav Thackeray conveniently forgot all morals and ethics when he got 18 MPs elected in the Lok Sabha in the name of Modi and later backstabbed the BJP because becoming the chief minister was his family’s wish. Here, I am also reminded of one of Saint Tukaram’s verses where he explains how despite realizing what is right and what isn’t, not everybody testifies it. Had Uddhav Thackeray been loyal to his alliance partner, today, he would not be subjected to all this.

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online –15 May 2023)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson