Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena-UBT chief, always sported the veneer of a reluctant politician. His public persona was in sharp contrast to his father and founder of the Sena, Bal Thackeray, who did not care for the etiquette of parliamentary politics but weaponised rhetoric to polarise people. The senior Thackeray refused to contest elections and seek public office; instead, he ran the party and government through his nominees. Those were different times. When the terms of engagement between the BJP
Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena-UBT chief, always sported the veneer of a reluctant politician. His public persona was in sharp contrast to his father and founder of the Sena, Bal Thackeray, who did not care for the etiquette of parliamentary politics but weaponised rhetoric to polarise people. The senior Thackeray refused to contest elections and seek public office; instead, he ran the party and government through his nominees. Those were different times. When the terms of engagement between the BJP and the Sena changed, Uddhav offered himself as the face of an ideologically incoherent alliance that included the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party and sought public office. The Maha Vikas Aghadi experiment did succeed initially: Uddhav became chief minister between 2019 and 2022 and fared well as head of the government during the Covid years. But a split in the party, followed by the devastating loss in the 2025 assembly election has laid bare its contradictions. His decision to withdraw from contesting the council polls, despite the consensus in the larger Opposition that he should, suggests his stint in legislative politics is over.
What does this mean for the Shiv Sena-UBT and Maharashtra politics? Uddhav’s son, Aditya, is already a legislator and seems primed to take over. Uddhav will, perhaps, retreat to being an elder statesman of the party and decide its future course while Aditya enhances his leadership credentials. This may also work for the MVA, which could do with a mentor, especially since Sharad Pawar, is ailing. The question, however, is if a leader can stay away from legislative politics and seize the political narrative: Bal Thackeray could in a different era and when the united Sena was a formidable force. How Uddhav recalibrates his political role will be keenly watched.
One Subscription.
Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines
to 100 year archives.
Archives
HT App & Website