HAS ‘HIGH HANDEDNESS’ IN MANAGING PARTY AFFAIRS HIT THACKERAYS?

Mumbai: After the political developments in Maharashtra, there have been several reports that the Chief Minister knew for months that preparations for a rebellion were being made in his party. NCP supremo Sharad Pawar was quoted as saying that he had told Uddhav Thackeray a month ago that all is not well inside Shiv Sena and he should fix his house. Journalists also say that there was a CID report that Eknath Shinde is angry and he is uniting the MLAs. The question is that when everyone had the news and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also knew, then why were the disgruntled lot ‘managed’ in time? One reason for this is being told the working style of the Thackeray family. In front of the Thackeray family, the status of a party leader is not more than that of a peon. Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray’s health was deteriorating, due to which he stayed away from his leaders.

Also a big reason is that Shiv Sena has no manager. Before Maha Vikas Aghadi was formed or Uddhav Thackeray became the Chief Minister, Sharad Pawar was managing the affairs from behind the curtain. Even later, Pawar’s management continued to work in maintaining the coalition government. For the first time there was a crisis in the Shiv Sena and it went out of control because in the last two decades, the Shiv Sena did not find any manager. Its top leader, the Thackeray family, believed that no Shiv Sainik could even think of being a rebel. In the Bal Thackeray era, Shiv Sena had leaders like Manohar Joshi, Chhagan Bhujbal and Narayan Rane who were also popular and also expert in management. After the departure of Bhujbal and Rane, there is just Sanjay Raut left, but he is also the leader and spokesperson who merely makes statements and is not a ‘manager’. Aaditya Thackeray was believed to be able to handle the management but the arrogance and feeling of being Bal Thackeray’s grandson keeps him away from party leaders and workers.