Tejas’ soft launch into politics raises prospect of bigger role

According to people in the know within the Shiv Sena (UBT) he will be taking on a more prominent political role in the coming months

Mumbai: The political churn following widespread Gen Z protests has thrown up a slew of new faces in politics and spurred a rethink among mainstream political parties about the next generation of leadership.

Tejas’ (L) soft launch into politics raises prospect of bigger role. (Raju Shinde)

In Mumbai, the youngest member of the Thackeray family, Tejas, 31, appears set to take on a large role in public life. Uddhav Thackeray’s younger son made his first political appearance on Sunday at Shivaji Park along with his brother Aaditya at the protest against SIR. According to people in the know within the Shiv Sena (UBT) he will be taking on a more prominent political role in the coming months. “Sunday was also the first day of the Navratri, and an auspicious day for anyone making a new start,” said a Sena (UBT) leader about the timing of Tejas’s political foray.

The Thackeray family, still grappling with the fallout of the 2022 split engineered by Eknath Shinde, will also be looking at Tejas’s entry as a way to further energise the rank and file and bolster their connect with a younger generation of voters. The party has vocally aligned itself with the Cockroach Janata Party and Aaditya Thackeray’s strong oratory at the protests in Mumbai has earned him several admirers among the city’s youth.

While Aaditya, 36, was launched by Balasaheb Thackeray himself in 2010 when he appointed him as president of the Shiv Sena’s Yuva Sena, Tejas--five years his junior—has remained in the background until now. Even as his father and older brother engaged with electoral politics, Tejas, a wildlife researcher, focused on finding and documenting new species of wildlife. When asked about his political ambitions, he said “I am happy where I am” without denying any future plans in active politics.

Sources within the Shiv Sena (UBT) told HT that following the vertical split in the party and Uddhav Thackray’s indifferent health, his wife Rashmi has been keen on inducting Tejas into the party fold. Her brother’ son Varun Sardesai too is a newly-elected lawmaker from Bandra east, an old Shiv Sena bastion. Raj Thackeray’s son Amit Thackeray, 34, too has become publicly active in the recent protests on behalf of the Mahararashtra Navnirman Sena. On Sunday, all three new-gen Thackerays addressed protestors and spoke to the media in one voice.

“We need young people like Tejas, and his entry into politics is welcome,” said Sena (UBT) MP and party spokesman Sanjay Raut. He however clarified that Tejas has as yet not begun participating in party meetings.

More than one Shiv Sena (UBT) spoke about his sharpness and ready wit which they said was reminiscent of Balasaheb. Deputy leader Vishakha Raut said, “We welcome his entry in politics, he is sharp and witty and will take the party forward along with his brother. One of them can pull in the masses, and the other brother can handle party affairs; it will be a beneficial arrangement for us.”

Another senior party leader, MLC Anil Parab, said, “Sunday’s public appearance by Tejas was spontaneous and not pre-planned. I don’t know whether he will pursue a career in politics but he has a good grasp of politics and is sharply aggressive like his grandfather. While Aaditya Thackeray is already our party leader, perhaps Tejas can emerge as our party’s young face.”

A friend of the Thackeray family who did not wish to be quoted, told HT: “While Balasaheb Thackeray was a hardliner, Uddhav Thackeray is a much softer version of his father. Aaditya too is similar to him but I think Tejas is closer to his grandfather in his thinking and expression. Though what line he will eventually take remains to be seen.” The friend also said that while his appearance at the protest on Sunday was “a soft launch,” there is likely to be a formal induction at a proper rally in the near future.

Tejas Thackeray studied at Bombay Scottish and Jai Hind College before setting up the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation in Mumbai. He and his colleagues at the foundation have documented 116 different species in India, Nepal, Congo and Angola of which 104 were discovered in India. Earlier this week, he wrote to union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupendra Yadav about the illegal capture and trafficking of the Borna snakehead (Channa amphibeus), an exceptionally rare freshwater fish facing immediate threat from the international aquarium market. In his letter, Thackeray has asked for legal protection for scheduling the Channa amphibeus under the highest protection status of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and to strictly criminalize its unauthorized capture, transit, and trade.