FAMILY FIRST POLICY NEXT

Today I would like to bring to fore the politics of the Thackeray clan. The Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have largely banked on the Maharastrian pride to win votes. That is well known. Today we will see another side of the Thackerays, the love for their respective families. It is well known fact that Mr. Raj Thackeray left the parent party Shiv Sena because his uncle wanted his son Uddhav to take over the reins from him. Several leaders have left the Sena citing the extra space given to the junior Uddhav Thackeray. But is Mr. Raj any different from his uncle?

 

            It is a well-known story that the Thackerays do not contest elections, because the Sena chief Bal Thackeray had declared that he does not believe in democracy. However, one Thackeray has broken the ranks. Shalini Thackeray will contest the Lok Sabha election from Mumbai northwest that includes many Maharashtrian-dominated localities. Shalini, 40, MBA, is Jitendra Thackeray’s wife. Jitendra is cousin to both Raj and Uddhav. Shalini is contesting on Raj’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) ticket.

 

          But here lies the crunch -- Shalini is a north Indian -- a Punjabi by birth -- a section of Indians that Raj has railed against for the better part of the last two years. Shalini Talwar, now Thackeray, says she is a Maharashtrian by marriage, has lived in Mumbai for the last two decades, speaks Marathi fluently and believes in Raj’s anti-north Indian ideology that she asserts has been misinterpreted across the country. Raj says Shalini is his best candidate for Lok Sabha. If Shalini meets Raj’s criteria for being a Maharashtrian, Congress leaders from UP and Bihar, like Mumbai unit chief Kripa Shankar Singh and spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam, wonder why they don’t fulfil the criteria. So do millions of others in Mumbai. Answer that, Raj.

 

Of course the Thackerays are not the exception. In Tamil Nadu the Pattali Makkal Katchi(PMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kalagam(DMK) are a case in point. I remember the PMK founder Mr.Ramadoss thundering when his party was launched that none of his family members would accept a party or government position. But the first thing he did was to get his son the Health Minster Cabinet post as soon as they joined the UPA.