After Maharashtra poll drubbing, Uddha's Sena (UBT) drops 'return to Hindutva' hints

MUMBAI: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has dropped broad hints over the past few days of going back to its core Hindutva agenda after the drubbing the party received in the November 20 Maharashtra polls.

The party has mounted a strident attack on the Centre for atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the neighbouring country in August and has now come forward to "protect" an "80-year-old" Hanuman Temple outside Mumbai's Dadar station that was been served a demolition notice by the railways.

Signalling its intent on the issue, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray performed 'maha aarti' at the temple amid efforts by the party to corner the ruling BJP on the Hindutva plank.

Earlier, on December 6, the party raised hackles of some allies when Uddhav Thackeray's close aide and MLC Milind Narvekar posted a photo of the Babri Masjid demolition on social media site X along with the combative "I am proud of those who did it" quote of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. The mosque in Ayodhya was brought down on December 6, 1992.

The move rattled Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra chief Abu Azmi who said his outfit was walking out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprises the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) apart from Shiv Sena (UBT).

Party insiders and observers said Narvekar would not have posted the laudatory message without knowledge of the leadership.

On Friday, Uddhav Thackeray had attacked the Union government over the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and sought to know the steps taken by India to protect the community in the neighbouring nation.

Observers said these moves mark another change in the policy of Shiv Sena (UBT), which severed ties in 2019 with its long time ally BJP and joined hands with the Congress and NCP but stuck to its 'Marathi manoos' (sons of the soil) plank.

These observers said the move comes amid the drubbing the Thackeray-led party received in the assembly polls and ahead of the civic polls, which have been due in most cities in Maharashtra, including Mumbai, since early 2022. It got just 20 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly despite contesting 95 as part of the MVA.

The cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was controlled by the undivided Shiv Sena for 25 years from 1997 to 2022. In 2017, the Shiv Sena and the BJP were involved a close fight and won 84 and 82 seats, respectively.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party won four of the six seats in Mumbai, though a closer look revealed it did not do well in seats with its traditional voter base. In assembly segments like Worli, held by Aaditya Thackeray, it had leads of less than 7,000.

The ruling BJP accused the Shiv Sena (UBT) of winning with the help of minority votes.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party's ambiguous stand on Uniform Civil Code and Waqf Board Amendment Bill gave the BJP further ammunition to attack its former ally.

In the assembly polls, results of which were declared on November 23, victories in just 10 of the 24 constituencies it contested in Mumbai was another sign of its waning voter base, especially among core supporters.

Moreover, the victory margin in three constituencies (Jogeshwari East, Versova and Mahim) was lower than 2000 votes, while it was less than 10000 in Worli, Shivadi, Kalina and Dindoshi. Only victories in Vikhroli, Byculla and Vandre East were with margins of more than 10,000.

Ambadas Danve, the leader of opposition in state legislative council, said Shiv Sena (UBT) never abandoned Hindutva and this was made clear even by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

"(I challenge the opposition) to show one instance where we have abandoned Hindutva. Our Hindutva is different. It does not mean hating minorities," Danve told PTI.

A Sena UBT leader, however, admitted the party fell short of countering the "BJP's narrative" that the Thackeray-led outfit had abandoned Hindutva, especially when the ruling party gave calls like "ek hain to safe hain" (we are safe when united) and "batenge toh katenge" (divided we perish) in the assembly poll campaign.

Political analyst Abhay Deshpande said the Shiv Sena (UBT) changing its political line in 2019 did prove advantageous to the party in 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it got a new voter base.

However, the November assembly polls showed the party had lost a significant part of its core voter base to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP, Deshpande pointed out.

Deshpande said the Sena (UBT) has realized that the party's "secular" stand may not work in the BMC, so it has moved back to its core Hindutva agenda. The party's secular stand may help in wards where the Congress has a weak candidate and the minority votes will gravitate to the Shiv Sena UBT, he added.

Prakash Akolkar, the author of 'Jai Maharashtra -- Ha Shiv Sena Navacha Itihas Aahe' (Jai Maharashtra -- This is the History of Shiv Sena) said the party moving back to Hindutva stems from its "frustration" from electoral setbacks.

"In the first session after he took over as the chief minister in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had said his party made a mistake of mixing religion with politics. Now the party is going back to its main Hindutva plank. This shows that the party has no real ideology," Akolkar said.