Shiv sena completes 40 years tomorrow

Mumbai, June 18: The Shiv Sena, which was formed with a pledge to fight for 'justice' for the 'Marathi Manoos', will complete 40 years of its existence tomorrow.

The small outfit has now transformed into an influential regional political party, championing the cause of 'Hindutva,' along with the BJP.

Its political journey started with the capturing of the then Thane Municipal Council and a substantial number of seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

The first party MLA was the late Wamanrao Mahadik from Parel constituency and the party then went on to become an influential grouping in the state legislature. Since 1989, the Sena has made its presence felt at the national level in both the Houses of Parliament.

In its 40 year journey, the Sena has had alliances with various political parties. However, its long-time ally has been the BJP.

Their alliance came into existence in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections and has continued till date.

The late Pramod Mahajan was the architect of this alliance which directly challenged the traditional Congress bastion and assumed power at the Centre in 1995.

The Sena suffered a major jolt in the 1990s when its prominent leader Chhagan Bhujbal deserted the party along with 15 legislators, to Congress.

However the Sena maintained its clout and growth, due to the charisma of Bal Thackeray, and came to share power in Maharashtra with the BJP.

In 2002, when the Sena chief passed on the baton to his son Uddhav, ripples were felt in the party which seemed to tone down its militant image by adopting more moderate views. However in the past year, the Shiv sena has suffered two major setbacks. Leader of the opposition Narayan Rane, who was also the Maharashtra Chief Minister for nine months was chucked out of the party in June after his disagreement with the new Sena executive.

In November, Raj Thackeray, nephew of the Shiv Sena chief also quit the party blaming Uddhav and his ''coterie'' for the party's deterioration.

Shiv Sena's main strength were the rousing and often militant speeches of Bal Thackeray during the annual Dussera rally.

The party which had accused Congress of nepotism, however, was not immune to the effects of family clout.

It witnessed a tussle between the two cousins over the party posts. Raj, who had been heading the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena since 1988 was the likely contender to be the sena chief. But Uddhav's entry into mainstream politics and his subsequent takeover led to a fued between the two, and confusion among party workers.

In 2002, Uddhav was elected' unopposed as the executive president at the Mahabaleshwar conclave. Interestingly, it was Raj who had proposed his name for the post.

Though the party came to power in BMC in 2002, it lost to Congress-NCP alliance in the 2004 assembly elections.

The party witnessed a vertical split after Rane was thrown out.

Six assembly byelections were held in the state where Sena had its sitting legislator, But it could win only one seat, that too with the PWP support.

The party also suffered a humiliation in the recently condcluded legislative council elections as one of its candidates was defeated when nearly 20 Sena legislators cross voted.

With BMC elections due in February next year, and with Mr Thackeray himself not remaining 'very active' due to health reasons, the party will face an acid test.

UNI