The importance of Ghosalkars in Shiv Sena (UBT)

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray visited the family of deceased party member Abhishek Ghosalkar, highlighting their importance to the party's clout in northern Mumbai. Ghosalkar and his father were crucial in strengthening the party's organization and electoral strategy in the region. Ghosalkar's rise in the party mirrored his father's, and he was a member of the party's youth wing led by Thackeray's son, Aaditya Thackeray.

Mumbai: That the deceased Abhishek Ghosalkar and his father Vinod Ghosalkar were crucial to the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s clout in northern Mumbai was proved when party chief Uddhav Thackeray visited his family on Friday with his wife Rashmi and son Aaditya Thackeray.

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Vinod Ghosalkar started his career in the Shiv Sena at the shakha level. He came into contact with Uddhav Thackeray in the 1990s when the latter was developing his own team across Mumbai, particularly at the organisational level, the strongpoint of the Sena. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed vibhag pramukh (division head) – an eminently important post dealing with organisation, electoral strategy and candidate selection with direct access to the Thackeray family.

Ghosalkar strengthened the party organisation in the north Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency after becoming the vibhag pramukh. In 2005, when several Shiv Sena leaders in Mumbai especially from the Konkan region quit the party following the rebellion by Narayan Rane, Ghosalkar stayed with Uddhav Thackeray despite being from the Raigad district in the Konkan. He also worked hard for the organisation during BMC elections in 2007.

In 2009, when Dahisar was carved out as a separate assembly constituency, Thackeray fielded Ghosalkar from the seat. Despite the challenge from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the divide in Marathi votes, he won the election. In 2010, he was made the deputy leader of party, a highly prestigious post.

Ghosalkar faced stiff opposition from party colleagues in the Dahisar area in 2013-14. Later, party corporator Sheetal Mhatre filed a complaint against him alleging harassment. Though Thackeray removed him from the post of vibhag pramukh after he lost the assembly election in 2014, he was appointed as the sampark pramukh (coordinator) of Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district. The message in his appointment was loud and clear: Ghosalkar had not lost the trust of Thackeray though he was unhappy over the controversy related to women corporators. After a local court acquitted Ghosalkar of the charges in May 2018, Thackeray appointed him as chairman of the Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board.

His son Abhishek’s Ghosalkar’s rise in the Shiv Sena began in 2012, when he became a corporator. Following the footsteps of his father, Abhishek Ghosalkar worked on ground and successfully managed to establish a connect with the people and party office bearers. During the 2017 BMC poll, as the ward represented by Ghosalkar was reserved for women, Thackeray gave the party ticket to his wife Tejasvee Ghosalkar. She won the election on the basis of work done by her father-in-law and husband, strengthening the bond with the Thackeray family.

Ghosalkar was also a part of Yuva Sena, the party’s youth wing led by Aadityaa Thackeray. He promoted party activities through his social media accounts. Even when he was shot on Thursday evening, his Facebook page was carrying live footage of Aaditya Thackeray’s rally in Kalyan.