Abdul Hamid is a resident of Nagpur but he has been driving a taxi in Mumbai for the last 28 years.
About the current elections, he says that they have become a mess, and it has become difficult to decide who is with whom.
About Uddhav Thackeray’s efforts to reach out to Muslims, he says, “Uddhav’s Shiv Sena is with the Congress, so it cannot present Hindutva like the BJP. Muslims vote against BJP, so being in alliance with Congress benefits Shiv Sena and increases the chances of getting Muslim votes.”
Maharashtra is going to polls on November 20. In the last assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena were together.
Now Uddhav Thackeray and the BJP are face to face. After separating from BJP, Uddhav Thackeray has also changed his political strategy and his efforts to reach out to Muslims are a part of this strategy.
Nariman Point in Mumbai. This is where Shiv Sena’s (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Maharashtra state contact office ‘Shivalay’ is located.
Former Maharashtra minister and NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Jitendra Awhad was talking to journalists.
Then some Muslim workers wearing a Shiv Sena (UBT) band around their neck and a cap on their head started taking pictures with Jitendra Awhad.
A local journalist beside me said, “Now this Shiv Sena is no longer Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.”
Is Uddhav’s politics changing?
During the Lok Sabha elections in May, Uddhav Thackeray reached a settlement called Cheeta Camp near Chembur in Mumbai.
There is a considerable population of Muslims in this area and Uddhav gave a speech here in Hindi instead of Marathi.
A crowd of Muslim voters in front of him and Uddhav says, “I have probably come in front of you for the first time because there was a wall between us. We used to fight with each other. I ask you a question, have I left Hindutva?”
“Do you accept my Hindutva? Is there a difference between my Hindutva and BJP’s Hindutva or not? I also say Jai Shri Ram but my Hindutva is Ram in the heart and Hindutva that gives work to every hand. Our Hindutva is the Hindutva that lights the stove at home, not the Hindutva that burns the house.”
During the Lok Sabha elections, Uddhav Thackeray tried to tell Muslim voters at Shiv Sena Bhavan that he wanted to save the Constitution.
In February this year, the Muslim community in Raigad district gifted Uddhav Thackeray a Quran written in Marathi. Then he said, “I was given a Quran in Marathi. This is our Hindutva. Therefore, no one should doubt our Hindutva.”
Uddhav Thackeray’s efforts to reach out to Muslim voters are completely different from his father Bal Thackeray’s politics.
What is the reason for this and are these efforts succeeding?
What do Muslim voters think about Uddhav’s efforts and is it affecting Shiv Sena’s traditional vote bank?
Before talking about these, let us know where were the Muslim voters in Bal Thackeray’s politics.
Bal Thackeray’s politics
In 1987, during the by-election in Mumbai’s Vile Parle, Bal Thackeray said in a meeting, “We are fighting these elections to protect Hindus. We do not care about Muslim votes. This country belongs to Hindus and will remain theirs.”
Shiv Sena candidate Ramesh Prabhu won this election but in 1989 Bombay High Court found both Bal Thackeray and Ramesh Prabhu guilty of hate speech and canceled the result.
Ramesh Prabhu challenged this decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court but in December 1995 Supreme Court upheld the decision of Bombay High Court.
Supreme Court Justice Jagdish Saran Verma had banned Bal Thackeray from voting from 1995 to 2001 as punishment in the case.
There was a time when Bal Thackeray talked about taking back the voting rights of Muslims. This demand of Bal Thackeray was also reiterated by Shiv Sena in the year 2015.
Then Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had written in Saamana, “As long as Muslims are used as vote bank, they have no future. This is the reason why Bal Thackeray demanded that the voting rights of Muslims be taken away. The day the voting rights of Muslims will be taken away, the mask of those who claim to be ‘secular’ will be exposed.”
This ‘love for Muslims’ of Uddhav Thackeray is also not very old.
In a press conference in April 2023, Uddhav Thackeray said, “The day Babri Masjid fell, I went to Bala Saheb. He told me that Babri Masjid had fallen. After this, Sanjay Raut’s call came. Bala Saheb told him that if Babri Masjid has been demolished by Shiv Sainiks, then he is proud.”
However, on the other hand, now Uddhav Thackeray is seen appealing to Muslim voters across the state to come together. Voters from the Muslim community are also present in good numbers in his meetings and tours.
Will this strategy prove to be effective?
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also keeps criticizing Uddhav’s attitude towards Muslims.
The same Shinde was once with Uddhav Thackeray, but when there was a split in Shiv Sena, Shinde joined BJP and became the Chief Minister of the state.
On October 12, Eknath Shinde said, “The hunger for power has entered your (Uddhav’s) body and mind. Now you have started speaking the language of Pakistan. Bala Saheb does not stay with them even for a minute. Now there is no difference between AIMIM and Shiv Sena (UBT).”
On Thursday, Raj Thackeray said during the election campaign that ‘Uddhav Thackeray removed ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ from Shiv Sena’s hoardings after becoming the Chief Minister because Congress and NCP did not like the word Hindu. In many hoardings, ‘Janab Balasaheb Thackeray’ was written in Urdu.’
Uddhav responded to this statement and called Raj Thackeray Haj Thackeray.
Uddhav said, “Raj Thackeray’s party had demanded concessions for Muslims in Haj. At that time Raj Thackeray was called Haj Thackeray.”
BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also repeated Raj Thackeray’s jibe.
He said, “If someone accepts the compulsion of votes and calls ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat Shiv Sena Chief Bala Saheb Thackeray’ as ‘Janab Bala Saheb Thackeray’, then we will not tolerate it. We are not among those who are forced to vote.”
Senior journalist Jaidev Dole says, “Ever since Uddhav joined Mahavikas Aghadi or India Alliance, he has understood that the issue of Hindutva is no longer right for regional parties.”
“Earlier Muslims and leftists were abused by his party but now it is not so. If Hindutva politics has to be done then now BJP has become the best option in it.” There are about 12 percent Muslim voters in Maharashtra and the Muslim population in Mumbai is about 22 percent.
About Uddhav Thackeray’s campaign to take Muslims along, his party’s senior leader Anil Parab says, “Balasaheb’s lawyers, doctors and many leaders were Muslims. Balasaheb was never against Muslims. He used to say that do not chant Pakistan Zindabad while living in India and we also have the same issue today. Shiv Sena (UBT) will always move forward on Balasaheb’s Hindutva.”
Senior journalist and writer Prakash Akolkar considers the role of Mahavikas Aghadi important in Muslims coming together with Shiv Sena.
Prakash Akolkar says, “The 2024 election was clearly divided. Either you are with Modi or you are not. After the riots that took place in Mumbai after the Babri demolition in 1992-93, Muslims never voted for Shiv Sena but this time they voted. Now it has been six months since the Lok Sabha elections and the issues have also changed.”
Will Uddhav’s traditional vote bank slip away from him?
Can being liberal towards Muslims have any effect on Shiv Sena’s Hindu vote bank?
Senior journalist Sudhir Suryavanshi says, “Whatever Hindu vote bank was to slip away has gone with Eknath Shinde. Those who think that Uddhav Thackeray’s Hindutva is correct are Uddhav Thackeray today. If Uddhav has benefited in some Lok Sabha seats due to the Muslim vote bank, then it is in his favor.”
Bal Thackeray was seen linking Muslims and treason on many occasions and once he even called Muslims ‘green poison’.
However, five years ago in December 2019, Uddhav Thackeray, as Chief Minister, had admitted in the Maharashtra Assembly that it was his mistake to link religion with politics and he has suffered because of it.
Uddhav Thackeray did not field a single Muslim candidate in the Lok Sabha elections held this year. Even in the assembly elections, they have given tickets to only one Muslim candidate. Haroon Khan is the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Versova seat in Mumbai.
Opinion of Muslim community
Social worker Zaid Khan says that Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) want the votes of the Muslim community but do not want to represent them.
Zaid Khan says, “At the time of Balasaheb, we knew that he did not want the Muslim vote but we had expectations from Uddhav Thackeray. Muslims voted for him in large numbers in the Lok Sabha but the entire Mahavikas Aghadi did not give a ticket to a single Muslim.”
“Now there were expectations in the assembly elections. There are 12 percent Muslims in Maharashtra. According to this, 36 seats are reserved for Muslims but they did not give that many seats. There are 41 percent Muslims in Byculla seat and Shiv Sena (UBT) gave ticket to Manoj Jamsutkar here.”
Afaq Ahmed is a voter of Dharavi and does journalism while living in Dharavi.
On the question of Shiv Sena and Muslim representation, Afaq says, “Every party is afraid of the Hindutva environment created by BJP. That is why Shiv Sena also does not want to give tickets to Muslims according to their population. The Muslim community is angry in its heart but thinks that if there is no representation, at least there should be someone to represent us.”
Naseem Siddiqui has been the President of Maharashtra Minority Commission (2004-2011) and is the national spokesperson of NCP (Sharad Pawar).
Regarding ticket distribution, he believes that other parties including Shiv Sena have not given tickets in proportion to them.
Naseem Siddiqui says, “Shiv Sena has given tickets to one Muslim, Sharad Pawar has given tickets to two Muslims and Congress has given tickets to 7-8 Muslims. There is anger in the Muslim community but the issue is to somehow stop the Mahayuti. In the future, Muslims will be taken care of in different positions.”
How important is the election for both the ‘senas’?
A big question among the people discussing elections around Shiv Sena in Mumbai is who is the ‘real Shiv Sena’?
In June 2022, a large part of the total Shiv Sena MLAs under the leadership of Eknath Shinde showed a rebellious attitude and opened a front against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
These MLAs said that the Mahavikas Aghadi alliance is against the real ideology of Shiv Sena.
After this, as soon as Shinde became the Chief Minister, the fight for the real Shiv Sena started which is still going on.
Senior journalist Sudhir Suryavanshi says in a conversation with BBC, “Right now there is a message among many people of Maharashtra that Shinde has a stolen Shiv Sena. Whose Shiv Sena is it will be decided by this assembly election. Right now the case of the real Shiv Sena is pending in the Supreme Court, but whoever performs better in these elections will be stamped as the real Shiv Sena in the court of the people.” In February 2023, the Election Commission allotted the Shiv Sena name and bow and arrow to the Shinde faction, while Uddhav Thackeray argued that Shinde’s MLAs should be disqualified due to defection. At present, the case of the original Shiv Sena is pending in the court.
This is the first assembly election after the Shiv Sena split into two factions. Earlier, both parties came face to face in the Lok Sabha elections.
At that time, Shinde’s Shiv Sena contested 15 seats and won seven seats and Uddhav’s Shiv Sena (UBT) contested 21 seats and won 9 seats.
Both the parties were facing each other on 13 seats, out of which seven seats were won by Shiv Sena (UBT) and six seats by Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
Uddhav and Shinde’s parties are face to face on more than 45 seats in the state, in which candidates of both the parties are contesting against each other on 11 to 12 seats in Mumbai Metropolitan.
Apart from this, there will be a direct contest between the candidates of both parties on eight seats in Marathwada and Konkan, six in Vidarbha, four in North Maharashtra, and four in West Maharashtra.
In Maharashtra, 94 candidates of Shiv Sena (UBT) and 78 candidates of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena are contesting on the election symbol of bow and arrow.
When Shiv Sena and the Muslim League came together
The alliance with the Muslim League is mentioned in the book ‘Bal Thackeray and Rise of Shiv Sena’ by writer and journalist Vaibhav Purandare.
Vaibhav writes, “In the year 1972-73, Shiv Sena contested Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections along with the Republican Party of India (Gawai). However, Shiv Sena fell short of a few seats to become the mayor, and then Shiv Sena took the support of the Muslim League. After this, Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Joshi became the mayor of Mumbai.”
In the late 1970s, once again the leaders of Shiv Sena and Muslim League were seen on stage. A meeting of both parties was held in the Nagpada area of Mumbai and Uddhav Thackeray shared the stage with Ghulam Mahmood Banatwala of Muslim League.
Then Bal Thackeray said in his speech, “From now on Shiv Sena and Muslim League will fight for their rightful rights.”
This incident is mentioned in Yogendra Thakur’s book on Shiv Sena. However, this alliance did not last very long.
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