The Uddhav Thackeray camp has been severely weakened with the defection of 40 MLAs and 12 MPs who have joined Chief Minister Shinde
The Uddhav Thackeray camp has been severely weakened with the defection of 40 MLAs and 12 MPs who have joined Chief Minister Shinde
With the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) poll round the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Devendra Fadnavis is playing the ‘Marathi manoos’ (Marathi sons-of-soil) card to break the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction’s dominance over Mumbai’s Marathi vote-bank and wrest the BMC from the Thackeray clan’s control.
Last week, Mr. Fadnavis, kicked of the BJP’s campaign for the BMC by accusing the Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray of being responsible for the ‘displacement’ of the indigenous Marathi populace.
“Today, it is because of you [Uddhav Thackeray] that the Marathi populace is forced to move beyond Vasai-Virar in search of houses…Despite having thousands of crores of rupees as the BMC’s budget, you could not resolve the problem of affordable housing for the Marathi manoos,” claimed Mr. Fadnavis, addressing a rally of BJP workers.
At the same time, while heaping blame on the Thackeray-led Sena, he was careful to distinguish that the Sena led by Eknath Shinde – the BJP’s coalition ally in the new Maharashtra government – was the ‘real’ Shiv Sena of Bal Thackeray’s ideals and that both parties would fly the saffron over the BMC in the coming poll.
That a national party like the BJP is playing the regional card at this juncture is hardly surprising given that Chief Minister and Thane strongman Eknath Shinde’s revolt has split the Sena wide open while plunging Bal Thackeray’s party into a legitimacy crisis.
The Uddhav Thackeray camp has been severely weakened with the defection of 40 (of its 55) MLAs and 12 MPs who have joined Chief Minister Shinde.
The BJP is now going in for the kill knowing fully well that Mr. Thackeray’s core marathi vote-bank, which have been steadily split over the years, will now see a further fragmentation as a number among the electorate are expected to switch loyalties to the Shinde camp.
Another key factor in favour of the BJP is its assured grip over Mumbai’s North Indian vote-bank, which comprises nearly 20% of the electorate of Mumbai city today making it the most critical electorate after Marathi voters.
The North Indian electorate is prominent in nearly 100 of the 227 BMC wards.
In the past, the Sena’s strident nativism and play on ‘Marathi identity’ had resulted in this vote-bank gravitating towards first the Congress and then the BJP.
Today, with the party under Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray attempting to ‘soften’ the Sena’s image as a ‘moderate’ party capable of taking along all sections and communities, the Uddhav
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