Chawl, Chai, Charcha, Chatrapati
If you think Uddhav Thackeray has been destroyed by this election result you have another thing coming; political parties like the Shiv Sena don’t get destroyed by a defeat whatever be the scale
Remember the Bharatiya Janata Party, descendant of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was reduced to two seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984?
Today they have been elected to rule Indja 3 times in a row
Who would have imagined that then when even the lights at the 12, Ashok Road office of the BJP never used to be switched on unless absolutely necessary after 7 pm
I remember only Kishan Lal Sharma still managing the fort whatever be the time of day or night; and never losing hope!
But that’s the BJP
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was intact and massive even when the BJP was reduced to 2 seats
Agreed the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray does not have a spine of an organisation like the RSS behind but what he has is the pride of the Marathi Manus!
A cause that Balasaheb Thackeray espoused and fought for all his life
But let’s be honest
Balasaheb’s own electoral influence never extended beyond Mumbai, Thane, Konkan
That’s Shiv Sena country
Did Uddhav Thackeray make a mistake in expending too many resources to make inroads into Marathwada, Northern Maharashtra and Vidarbha?
No he did not!
Come the Municipal Corporation elections and Uddhav Thackeray will bounce back in a way that will leave all the naysayers speechless
Uddhav Thackeray may have won only 20 (I regard that as 50 losses) but in the BMC elections the dynamics, the narrative and even the appeal will be different
And yes I expect an Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena led regime to take over the BMC
Only thing is Uddhav and Co will have to go back to basics
Back to each Sena Shakha in and around each colony in Mumbai
The day Aaditya Thackeray begins to visit and stick around at each Shakha to play carrom, have jhunka bhakar, sookhi bhel that will be the day you will see a massive Shiv Sena revival
Back to leading workers and fighting for their rights
Back to telling all industrialists, stock brokers, investment bankers, bagmen that “my people come first “
Back to fighting for what’s right, fair, honest and real
What did Eknath Shinde do?
From Facebook live to face to face live
Uddhav Thackeray will have to be streetwise live; galli-galli mein live, har chawl mein charcha,!
Chawl, Chai, Charcha, Chatrapati!
The day Uddhav Thackeray does that the whole of Mumbai is his!
