Who played the ‘band’ for the ‘brand’?

 

Former ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Uddhav Thackeray, recently stated in an interview given to his party mouthpiece that some bands are orchestrating to end the ‘Thackeray brand’.

UBT seems to have a great fondness for issuing sarcastic so-called quips.

And only he believes his quips are sharp, meaningful, and clever. In pursuit of this habit, he has now paired the word ‘brand’ with ‘band’ attempting a play on words.

Recently, during a unity gathering held in the name of Marathi pride, the same UBT made a rather baffling statement saying, “Devendra Fadnavis lifted the wedding veil between us,” trying to imply a newfound closeness.

However, this statement left many people stunned. To use such a metaphor at an event centered around Marathi identity and saying that the wedding curtain between the brothers has been lifted to describe political reconciliation, only demonstrated that UBT urgently needs a Marathi professor to guide their so-called linguistic enlightenment.

Anyway, the main point is about this self-proclaimed ‘brand’ of UBT. The revered Balasaheb Thackeray was a truly iconic brand.

This ‘brand’ was created due to the fearless, outspoken nature of Venerable Balasaheb and his attitude of never compromising with Hindutva.

In the 1980s, Venerable Balasaheb strongly advocated Hindutva and expanded Shiv Sena’s reach across Maharashtra.

In the backdrop of all these incidents, such as the Ram Mandir movement, the Karseva in Ayodhya and the subsequent riots in Mumbai, and the 1993 bomb blasts, Venerable Balasaheb’s ‘brand’ of fiery Hindutva rose to prominence.

In the wake of this powerful brand, the false secularism of the Congress was thoroughly exposed.

Hinduism was the common thread in the alliance between Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena. The fearless stand taken by Venerable Balasaheb during the Mumbai riots of 1992-1993 was revealed in the then issue of ‘Saamana’.  In 1995, the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government came to power.

For the success of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, venerable Balasaheb had travelled across Maharashtra and created a stir through public meetings.

Mr. Uddhav Rao became active in the organization built by his father with great effort after 1995-1996. While Venerable Balasaheb was fighting for the establishment of Shiv Sena and the just rights of the Marathi people, Uddhav Rao was not even active in Shiv Sena. In 2002-2003, Uddhav Rao took over the reins of the organization. Since then, Shiv Sena’s influence began to wane.

Balasaheb’s ‘Thackeray brand’ was created because of his credibility. After 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party formed the National Democratic Alliance. Many regional parties across the country participated in it.

Balasaheb never obstructed the BJP leadership for power at the Centre. Once Balasaheb gave a word, he would not go back on it. Despite being a constituent party of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2007 and 2012 Presidential elections, Venerable Balasaheb publicly supported Mrs. Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee. Despite taking a stand against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance remained intact.

This was because Balasaheb had very clearly conveyed his position regarding supporting Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee to the BJP leadership. When Venerable Balasaheb was alive, he sometimes had differences with the BJP leadership over the distribution of seats in elections.

However, Balasaheb also had the policy of not escalating these differences until they were resolved.

Against this backdrop, what do we see when we look at Uddhav Thackeray’s political career? Since the 2004 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, all the party’s elements have converged on UBT.

From 1990 to 2004, BJP-Shiv Sena used to campaign jointly in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Workers of both parties used to hold joint rallies.

Uddhav Thackeray stopped this practice and showed that he lacked political wisdom. Since then, the downward spiral of Shiv Sena began.

In 2005, a figure like Narayan Rane decided to separate from Shiv Sena. In 2005, Raj Thackeray also left Shiv Sena. UBT was the reason for both of them leaving Shiv Sena. In 2009, under the leadership of UBT, Shiv Sena had contested more than 160 seats but had won only 44 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party had contested 117 seats and won 46 seats.

In that election, UBT’s Shiv Sena received 16 percent votes and the BJP 14 percent. After taking over the reins of Shiv Sena, Uddhav Rao had damaged the relations with the BJP leadership.

Only out of respect for the venerable Balasaheb, the BJP leadership never spoke publicly about these issues. In 2014, UBT ended the long-standing alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly elections over 15-20 seats. He continued to criticize the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party in an indecent manner even after the alliance had ended.

Despite tolerating this behavior, the BJP leadership, in the interest of Hindutva, extended a proposal for cooperation with the Shiv Sena. Accepting that proposal, Uddhav Thackeray joined the state government, yet continued to take a stance against both the BJP leadership and the central and state governments.

Balasaheb never showed such double standards during his lifetime. That is why his ‘Thackeray brand’ had value. Despite contesting the elections together in 2019, UBT betrayed the Bharatiya Janata Party after the assembly elections and grabbed power in the state. UBT, under the illusion that this power would last a lifetime, had to give up the post of Chief Minister in two and a half years. Rather than anyone else orchestrating the band, it is UBT himself who will go down in history as the destroyer of the Thackeray.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 21 July, 2025) 

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson