Uddhav’s 62nd birthday: A low-key affair, but a show of strength

It was an otherwise a low-key affair, but Shiv Sena used the celebrations of its party president Uddhav Thackeray’s 62nd birthday on Wednesday to project solidarity and cohesion among its cadre after a vertical split in the ranks

It was an otherwise a low-key affair, but Shiv Sena used the celebrations of its party president Uddhav Thackeray’s 62nd birthday on Wednesday to project solidarity and cohesion among its cadre after a vertical split in the ranks.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray meets party workers on his birthday on Wednesday Vijay Bate/HT Photo

Accompanied by loyalist legislators and MPs like Ravindra Waikar and Arvind Sawant, Thackeray sat on a dais outside Matoshree in Bandra East as the crowd comprising party functionaries and workers lined up to greet him.

As per convention, Thackeray meets his party leaders and cadre outside his residence on his birthday, but the annual ritual had been disrupted for the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a show of strength, Shiv Sainiks across Mumbai and Maharashtra, many of whom had flowers, garlands, bouquets, posters, and bags carrying the membership forms and undertakings, gathered at Kalanagar since early morning. Some also arranged for music bands to play at the venue. Earlier, some Sena workers cut a cake with Thackeray, his wife Rashmi and younger son Tejas at Matoshree.

Meanwhile, in an interview published in the party mouthpiece Saamana on Wednesday, Thackeray claimed that Sena would return to power in Maharashtra after the next assembly elections.

In a bid to counter the allegations being made by the rebel faction, Thackeray pointed out that chief minister Eknath Shinde himself had publicly complained about the overbearing approach of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its attempts to corner Sena when the two parties were in power during 2014-19.

The BJP is Shinde’s ally in power with Devendra Fadnavis as deputy CM.

Speaking to Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, executive editor of the publication, for the interview, he said, “I will stand by my promise to [the late] Shiv Sena supremo.”

Thackeray said that the party would install its chief minister again. “If this is not to be done, then what is the meaning of my struggle?”

The former chief minister, who was forced out of power last month, played down the rebels’ claims that he did not meet legislators and elected representatives and said that after his surgery, he had been rendered completely immobile, thus affecting his public engagements.

Responding to the allegations that the departments controlled by Sena ministers were not being allocated funds, Thackeray said in the later days of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government, he had intervened in cases where there was a discrepancy.

To fight off the claims of the rival camp led by Shinde of being the “real” Shiv Sena, the party has decided to enrol over 40 lakh primary members in a month’s time. This membership registration and the undertakings with a pledge of loyalty will serve to buttress its claims before the Election Commission of India that the Thackeray faction represents Sena, and allow it to retain the ‘bow-and-arrow’ symbol.

A senior Sena functionary said, “Many came with the enrolment forms and affidavits… We expect that over a lakh such membership forms were submitted to Uddhav ji today. However, the actual number will be known when we count these forms.”

While Sena’s Nashik city unit brought 10,000 enrolment forms, Vaibhav Naik, MLA from Kudal in Sindhudurg district, said leaders from his constituency had submitted around 450 undertakings.

“We have submitted 50,000 membership forms and 5,000 undertakings from office-bearers,” Pandurang Sakpal, the vibhag pramukh or division chief for South Mumbai, said.

He also said that the division would enrol another 50,000 members in a week. “We are going door to door for the enrolment. Many people are coming to our shakhas to fill out these forms… [to mark the birthday]. We have also started a drive to clean water tanks in houses for free and have tied up with doctors and chemists who will treat patients for free and grant them a 20% discount on medicines.”

MLC Sunil Shinde said leaders from the Worli assembly segment, which is represented by Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray, had submitted around 5,000 enrolment forms. The local unit has set a target of registering 50,000 members.

Shivadi MLA Ajay Choudhari, who is the Uddhav camp’s group leader in the assembly, said they had organised a series of programmes like medical check-ups, distribution of umbrellas, and blood donation camps in the constituency to mark Thackeray’s birthday. “I conveyed my greetings to Uddhav ji and also took Matoshree’s blessings as my birthday falls on Thursday.”

Shinde, Fadnavis greet former CM

Shinde tweeted his birthday greetings to Thackeray, but referred to him merely as the former chief minister of Maharashtra and not the Sena president. “Heartiest greetings to the former chief minister of Maharashtra Hon Shri Uddhav-ji Thackeray. May Goddess Jagdamba grant him a healthy and long life.”

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis too tweeted his greetings to Thackeray while referring to him as a former chief minister.

The Shinde group’s spokesperson and former minister Deepak Kesarkar sought to play down the omission by the CM. “A chief minister is a more important position than a party chief… Even a former chief minister belongs to the state. To misinterpret this is wrong.”

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray did not greet the Sena chief. MNS leaders said till 2019, Raj, who quit Sena in 2005 in the culmination of a bitter power struggle with Thackeray and formed his party the next year, would send a bouquet to his elder cousin on his birthday.