Foundation Day | Laughing Uddhav, Emotional Shinde: Two Shiv Senas Focus on 2024

For the first time, two events were held to mark the Shiv Sena foundation day by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.

"There were Lok Sabha elections due when my mother was hospitalised. The doctor called me and my heart sank. Gavit ji (Lok Sabha MP Rajendra Gavit) called at the same time and apprised me of the rallies scheduled for the day. I told him we will go ahead with the rallies, I could not tell him that my mother is no more. I finished the rallies and then paid last respects to my mother at the hospital," said a teary-eyed Eknath Shinde at Mumbai's NESCO grounds, while addressing party workers and leaders at an event that was organised to celebrate the 57th foundation day of the Shiv Sena on Monday, 19 June.

For the first time in its history, there were two events organised to celebrate the party's foundation day in Mumbai, with one of them not being addressed by a Thackeray.

While Shinde's address was dominated by drawing comparisons with Uddhav Thackeray and listing achievements of the state government, Thackeray, on the other hand, took a different approach at the Shanmukhananda Hall in Mumbai's Sion.

With the theme 'Hasyajatra' (a circus of laughter), Thackeray's event was smaller and shorter than that of Shinde's but the focus for both warring leaders was clear – 2024.

Uddhav Keeps It Casual With Clear Targets

Following performances by the cast of Marathi comedy reality show 'Maharashtrachi Hasyajatra', Thackeray decided to keep the mood of the event light and casual.

Amid old jibes of 'gaddari', 'khoke', and 'stealing my father's legacy,' Thackeray's 20-minute speech focused on addressing the cadre directly, in a bid to counter allegations of him being disconnected from party workers and putting up an unshaken front.

Thackeray's address was short and crisp. Just minutes after beginning the address and cracking a few jokes on the Shinde faction, Thackeray took on PM Modi and the BJP over issues ranging from the Manipur unrest and attacks on Kashmiri Hindus; a video of Devandra Fadnavis' claims on PM Modi having "made the vaccine" was also shown.

"Yesterday I said that the PM should visit Manipur. I will say it again – Manipur is burning and PM Modi is going to America. They lamented 'Uddhav should not spit at the sun'. Why is this sun not rising in Manipur?" Thackeray said.

He then read out a tweet by Lt Gen (retd) Nishikant Singh, who compared the situation in Manipur to that of countries like Syria and Libya.

"The houses of BJP leaders are being burnt. I should be happy since we oppose the BJP but I am not because a part of my country is burning and that bothers me, that is my Hindutva," Thackeray said, asking "Where is the double engine government now?"

Attacking the ruling alliance on its "failure to safeguard Hindutva," Thackeray reiterated that his version of Hindutva was inclusive.

Taking a jibe at the Centre, he said: "When Congress was in power, many claimed that Islam is in danger. Now when they (BJP) are in power, they say Hindutva is in danger. Who is the real Hindutvavaadi then? After nine years of your rule, how can Hindutva still be in danger?"

"You have failed as a Hindu government if Hindus are being killed in Kashmir and Manipur," he added.

Referring to Shinde as a 'snake' to say that the challenge before the party is being posed by a "former friend," Thackeray claimed that the BJP "will make him dance to their tunes till they need him and pack him in a box later."

Commenting on MLA Manisha Kayande's exit from the party on Sunday, Thackeray claimed that his supporters are still getting calls from the Shinde faction and those who still want to leave are free to do so.

Shinde's Bid To Show Strength, Pose Better Than Thackeray

Shinde's event focused at showing the strength of the 'real' Shiv Sena, comparing his CM tenure with that of Thackeray's, and narrating anecdotes to not just highlight his 'sacrifices and struggles' for the party but also to pitch himself as the 'people's CM'.

Way before his address, the host kept showering praises at Shinde for bringing about a 'revolution' in Maharashtra and mentioned how he 'works 18 hours everyday' at least thrice.

Along with the number of people present, which Shinde did not fail to highlight in his address, the event was also high on optics. On stage, the CM was flanked by the MLAs and MPs that support him.

Other than invoking late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and staking claim to his ideology and legacy at every go, the venue also had posters of his quotes like 'I will shut shop rather than joining hands with the Congress and the NCP' and 'I won't let me party become like the Congress.'

Targeting Uddhav Thackeray, he said: "Many of us were jailed for the making the Shiv Sena what it is today. Where were you? How many cases do you face? I became the CM from a mere shakha pramukh only because of the support of the party workers and Bal Thackeray."

Other than the anecdote on his mother's demise, Shinde also reiterated how he had been in jail for 21 days in Belagavi in the past and how he took loans to help the party win elections rather than fulfill his son Shrikant Shinde's dream to build his own hospital.

Comparing his CM tenure with that of Thackeray's, he said: "I have to put in extra work every day. The supporters are concerned for me. Party leaders urge me to take rest and take care of my health but the responsibility I have taken is to take forward the ideology of Shiv Sena pramukh (Bal Thackeray)."

"I sign files while in the car in transit. I have cleared more files in the car than this government did in two years. He (Uddhav) never even kept a pen, but I have two pens. I sign files in cars, mantralaya, everywhere," Shinde said, adding that he had cleared more funds for development projects in 11 months than Uddhav had done in 2.5 years.

"Do you see any change in me? I am the same as I was before becoming the CM. I have not changed and I won't. I was a volunteer and I always will be," he added.

Like he has done in the past, Shinde also praised PM Modi for the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and fulfilling Bal Thackeray's dream of building the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

"He (Uddhav) is challenging PM Modi to go to Manipur. He is a man who went to Pakistan to conduct surgical strikes," Shinde said.

In the backdrop of the pending elections for the Mumbai civic body, one distinct aspect of Shinde's address was also the focus on Mumbai, the developmental projects being undertaken, his pet project of beautification of the city, and the concretisation of roads under the project.

Absent Allies: A Commonality in Both Events

Considering how the allies of both Senas have been invoking the 'injustice' the respective factions have been subjected to, top leaders of the allied parties were missing from both rallies.

While Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress leaders were nowhere to be seen at Thackeray's event, Devendra Fadnavis was holding a separate event in Kalyan where he did focus his attacks on Uddhav and hailed Shinde.

"There are two events today. One by those under Eknath Shinde who saved the Shiv Sena. The second is by those who betrayed Balasaheb's ideology. He was once asked if he would ally with the Congress and the NCP, and he said that he would shut shop instead. But the greed for the chair was such...," Fadnavis said.

"You had asked for votes for Hindutva and the alliance with the BJP. The real gaddari was done by Uddhav Thackeray by backstabbing us for the chair. If you want to call anybody a gaddar (traitor), it's you. You don't have the right to call anybody else that. Shinde returned to those who the people voted for," he added.

Both Shinde and Fadnavis at their respective events quoted Sharad Pawar to attack Uddhav.

"Pawar himself in his biography has said that Uddhav went to the Mantarlaya only twice and that if he had visited more, the alliance would not have lost power," Fadnavis said.

Shinde too quoted Pawar from his biography to say that the NCP supremo himself has said that a government cannot be run by sitting at home.

During their last face-off on Dusshera in 2022, the events focused on asserting the respective factions as the 'real' Shiv Sena. On Monday, however, there was a clear focus by both Senas to display preparedness ahead of the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections scheduled for 2024.

With several polls pointing to advantage MVA at least in the Lok Sabha, the after-effects of Shinde's rising strength with more and more leaders joining the faction remain to be seen.