Friends, Frenemies & Polls: 3 Takeaways From the BJP-Sena Feud in Maharashtra

There is more to the feud between Narayan Rane and Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra than what meets the eye. Read on!

Union Cabinet Minister Narayan Rane and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Image used for representation. 

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

The state of Maharashtra witnessed minor political hiccups after Union Cabinet Minister Narayan Rane remarked that he would have "slapped" Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for allegedly forgetting the year of India's Independence during the latter's address on 15 August.

Now, we couldn't have expected that to go down very well with the Shiv Sainiks, could we? In a showdown that went on till late at night on Tuesday, 24 August, we saw cops hunting for Rane, his arrest and subsequent bail.

But there's more to this episode than what meets the eye.

Sure, the remarks were unparliamentary coming from a person of Rane's rank and stature, but did they warrant the arrest of a sitting Cabinet minister?

Read on, as we decode these questions and list the key takeaways from the Narayan Rane vs Uddhav Thackeray battle in the state:

First Things First, Uddhav Thackeray Has Shown That He is No Pushover

Narayan Rane's comment wasn't the worst level of mudslinging Indian politics has seen, not even remotely close to it. We see politicians make bitter comments about each other all the time.

In fact, even as the Thackeray-Rane controversy plays out, social media is abuzz with an old video of Uddhav Thackeray from 2018 where he threatened to hit Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with a...wait for it.... slipper (!).

Then what's the whole fuss about?

To make it very clear, it's not so much about what was said, but who said it. The Uddhav Thackeray and Narayan Rane rivalry dates back to the latter's days in Shiv Sena, where he was the right hand man of Balasaheb Thackeray. He held crucial posts in the party and was even appointed as the chief minister in 1999.

Rane, however, didn't share the same camaraderie with Thackeray junior. After Uddhav Thackeray officially took over reins of the Sena, Rane repeatedly and publicly started taking jibes at him, questioning his style of politics and calling him less charismatic as compared to Balasaheb Thackeray.

Narayan Rane was finally expelled from the Shiv Sena in 2005, after which he joined the Congress before moving to the BJP.

It's not rocket science that the Sena was aware that Rane's arrest won't stand in the court of law and might even draw the party criticism for misuse of the state machinery, yet they chose to go ahead with it, because it is good optics for the Shiv Sena style of politics, which essentially says — 'don't mess with us'.

The Quint spoke to journalist and author Sujata Anandan, who said the entire episode is purely one of optics and power play.

"When Narayan Rane was inducted in the Cabinet, Uddhav (Thackeray) knew very well this was being done only to trouble him and the Shiv Sena. It is entirely a question of power play and optics. The chief minister of Maharashtra has made it very clear to Rane and other Union ministers that you get out of line in my state and you could be arrested."

Sujata Anandan, Author & Journalist

She further added that the Shiv Sena very well knew that the sections against Rane won't sustain, but the entire process itself was very humiliating for the BJP. "It is a question of oneupmanship. Uddhav Thackeray is perhaps two up on Rane. We will now have to wait and see how this plays out in future," she says.

Wake Up Call for Party Cadre

Both the BJP and the Shiv Sena take great pride in calling themselves cadre-based parties where the strength of workers on ground is a crucial pillar of their election strategies.

The pandemic hasn't allowed too much political mobilisation in the state of Maharashtra for close to two years now, which means that the parties will hop on to any excuse they get to charge the cadre ahead of the state civic body election scheduled for February 2022.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been single-handedly governed by the Shiv Sena for 35 years now. However, Sena won the 2017 election with a close margin of just two seats.

The Quint spoke to BJP Mumbai Vice President Hitesh Jain who categorically denied any links between this incident and the party's preparations for the BMC elections.

"Everybody is aware that the party (BJP) takes every election seriously. However, it will be wrong to draw any links between what happened on Tuesday with the upcoming elections. It was hooliganism, blatant misuse of power, and violation of constitutional values by the Shiv Sena."

Hitesh Jain, BJP Mumbai Vice President

While this might be BJP's official stand on the issue, it is difficult to ignore the recent chain of events, where Narayan Rane paid homage to Balasaheb Thackeray at his memorial while simultaneously claiming that the BJP will win the upcoming BMC polls.

Knowing the Sena inside out, Rane will definitely be a crucial part of the BJP's strategy to contest the elections.

However, it remains to be seen how effective Rane proves to be when it comes to fetching votes for the BJP. Sujata Anandan says that Rane's political record doesn't show much promise.

"Narayan Rane, under Bal Thackeray, was the in-charge of the Konkan region in Maharashtra. When he moved to the Congress after quitting Sena, he was given 40 seats by the party thinking he will get them votes from the Sena stronghold, but he could only win two seats. This is because people forget that Shiv Sena during that time earned votes in the name of Bal Thackeray and not for the work done by local and regional leaders."

Sujata Anandan, Author & Journalist

Speculations of a BJP-Sena Reunion Put to Rest

Discourse in the media have for a while now, hinted at a possible BJP-Shiv Sena union and how Uddhav Thackeray is the one keen on it.

Though they say that nothing is impossible in politics, which is also true, considering if Sena and Congress can form an alliance, Sena and BJP is still the same wine in new bottle.

However, Shiv Sena coming down heavily on Rane in its editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna, by calling him a "perforated balloon", pasting Rane's posters across Mumbai calling him a 'murgi chor' and mocking him on social media, has clearly hinted that there is no love lost between the two parties.

Sujata Anandan adds to this, "The alliance is totally out of question for now. If Uddhav wanted an alliance, he would have never parted ways with BJP in the first place. The Shiv Sena was one of BJP's oldest allies," she says.

"We need to look at what has happened to other allies of the BJP. Nitish Kumar is barely surviving. The Akali Dal, which was another old ally of the party has also parted ways. Uddhav Thackeray spotted it right in the beginning. He realised that BJP's ultimate goal is to shrink the space of allies and took corrective action in time."

Sujata Anandan, Author & Journalist

With the BJP aggressively positioning Narayan Rane to take on Uddhav Thackeray and the Shiv Sena retaliating with an arrest, one thing is for sure, politics in Maharashtra is expected to spice up in months to come.