The Twisted Maharashtra Climax: Triumph or Loss of Face for BJP?

If the national ruling party BJP, through the bizarre turns and twists of the tale, wants the citizens of the country, irrespective of being their supporters or not, to believe that the party was not behind what unfolded in Maharashtra over the last 9 days the party leadership is under a delusion and totally on the wrong track; because everybody has been getting used to their games over the last few years, from Arunachal Pradesh to Goa. It had been a forgone conclusion that the waiting-in-queue former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis was set to become the CM after a lapse of two and half years, till the last few hours in the afternoon of Thursday, the 30^th of June 2022 when the rebel group leader Eknath Shinde arrived in Mumbai to talk and negotiate with Fadnavis for the formation of the new government, still leaving his 49 or 50 supporters behind in Goa. As per the script both the leaders met the Governor and staked their claims. Again as per the script the oath-taking ceremony was to be held on Friday, the 1^st of July 2022. However, things bizarre started happening very fast after that.

 

First, the swearing-in ceremony for the formation of the new government was advanced to 7pm today itself, that is say, at least the swearing-in of the new CM. And then, in a joint press conference addressed by Shinde and Fadnavis the latter dropped the bombshell that the new CM was going to be Eknath Shinde, and not himself as was widely expected in media circles.  Fadnavis went on to say that the state BJP would not even be a part of the government, only extending his party’s support to Shinde’s faction from outside.  That announcement left everyone in utter disbelief and it was speculated that the BJP, in fact, wanted to oust the Thackeray family from active politics while still claiming the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray and to show that they’d not been hungry for power at all, not at all having any part to play in the split in Shiv Sena. It was also speculated that Fadnavis wanted to become the kingmaker or the remote control to monopolize the Hindutva space in the state.

 

In another twist just before the oath-taking ceremony Devendra Fadnavis announced that they’d in fact be a part of the new government and that he’d be the new Deputy Chief Minister. This announcement was supposedly made at the directions of the BJP high command in Delhi. And accordingly, the swearing-in ceremony was organized with Shinde taking the oath as the new CM and Fadnavis as the Deputy CM.

 

While the earlier speculations we mentioned could still be valid the question arises as to why the mighty BJP should allow the party to demote itself to a secondary position. Could it be due to factors of compulsion? Because, the only hope of the BJP to recapture power depends entirely on that faction of 49 legislators supporting Shinde who claims to be the real Shiv Sena and should they decide to go back to the Thackeray fold later the BJP would again be out of power. This makes the alliance as unholy as the earlier one looking at a volatile future ahead. So far the defectors have been kept safely away from the hub of politics, but they will have to come back to take oath, join the government and run it.

 

Another question that arises is that if the BJP is agreeable to giving away the post of the CM to Shiv Sena why they didn’t do it in 2019 which would’ve prevented the entire political drama to unleash ceaselessly in the following two and half years and would’ve ensured a BJP CM for at least two and half years seamlessly. Such questions raise the doubt that the BJP has in fact suffered a loss of face under pressing compulsions. One BJP national spokesperson has stoutly justified the move saying that their party is committed to ending family rule in politics across the country; well, that can be too tall a promise. Besides, a long battle lies ahead of Shinde’s faction to fight for the original party symbol and to appropriate the Balasaheb legacy at the same time. On the other hand, the NCP stalwart Sharad Pawar is not going to sit idle and watch the games as a spectator. Only the future can tell on how solid grounds the new alliance stands at the moment.

 

In any case, it’s become a struggle for sheer survival as far as Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray and their loyalists are concerned. They still have the support of about 16 legislators and a few of the Members of Parliament, and enjoy grass-root support in the metro of Mumbai. But the real test scenario is set to unfold in rural Maharashtra and other districts of the state. They should stop crying hoarse about their own people deserting them, and instead should fight it out in all corners of the state.

Uddhav Thackeray Resigns, Celebrations in the State BJP Camp!

Ahead of the trust vote ordered by the Supreme Court that is to be carried out on the floor of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly by 5pm on Thursday, the30^thJune 2022 Uddhav Thackeray has resigned from the post of Chief Minister on his Facebook Live address at 9.30pm today which was taken live on the television news channels across the country. The emotions of Uddhav Thackeray hardly mattered now as his resignation signified the end of his government and the trust vote tomorrow has become redundant. He has also resigned from his elected post of the Maharashtra Legislative Council. What had been billed as the ideal opposition alliance for the country to counter the growth of BJP the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has come to an end too. News of the formation of a new government led by the former CM Devendra Fadnavis is circulating at the moment with some news channels predicting a new government on July 1, 2022. The Governor, after accepting Uddhav’s resignation officially, may invite the single largest party which is BJP to form a new government and prove their majority later or the BJP with the Shiv Sena rebels may visit the Governor to stake claims. Uddhav’s resignation letter was in the process of being handed over to the Governor as the last reports came in.

 

Meanwhile, the holidaying Shiv Sena rebels (now claimed to be 49 including a few independents) along with their leader Eknath Shinde had been shifted from Guwahati to another luxury resort in Goa in the evening today and they are likely to return to Mumbai early morning tomorrow to have discussions or negotiations with the BJP first and then picking up on the government formation process. It’s almost certain that Fadnavis will be the new CM, waiting for more than two and half years. It can called a quirk of nature that the Shiv Sena left the pre-poll alliance with the BJP on the CM post issue, demanding a rotational CM for half of the five-year term each; and in around two and half years only the Uddhav government has fallen.

 

The state BJP has been celebrating in their Mumbai party office with Devendra Fadnavis present and being served with sweets. There are actually three cheers for them: first, they’ve avenged the betrayal of the Shiv Sena in 2019; second, they’ve successfully engineered the biggest split ever in Shiv Sena ranks thus somewhat clearing the way to become the only Hindutva party in the state; and third, they’ve achieved a most significant victory in the run-up to the General Elections in 2024 by recapturing the state with the financial capital of the country. Although Eknath Shinde wants to retain his faction’s identity as the real Shiv Sena it’s going to be a long legal battle to do so. The Shiv Sena earlier made it very clear that they’d never allow the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray to be taken away from them. How long would Shiv Sean exist with the isolation of the Thackeray family is also to be seen in the coming days.

 

There have been protests against the ‘traitor’ rebel MLAs and counter demonstrations in support of Shinde across the state in the last few days which made the Governor order the state police to ensure safety of the rebels once they come back to Mumbai. Interestingly, the pleas for and against disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs as demanded by Shiv Sena is pending with the Supreme Court with a hearing scheduled on 12^thJuly. The apex Court came into the scenario as there’s been no Speaker in the assembly and the Deputy Speaker in charge is qualified to handle the matters relating to issues of disqualification and ordering a no-confidence motion.

(PS: The Final Twist! As on the afternoon of 30.06.2022, former BJP CM Devendra Fadnavis has declared the Shiv Sena rebel group leader Eknath Shinde as the next CM of Maharashtra!! This move has surprised one and all. Is it aimed at finishing off the traditional Thackeray family led Shiv Sena? It'll take time for a much clearer picture.)

Maharashtra Political Thriller: A Shiv Sena without the Thackerays?

We’ve been liberally treated with political thrillers like that is happening in Maharashtra at the moment across the country since the last few years, thanks to the aggressive power-politics of the national ruling dispensation (BJP) which fittingly matches its aggressive Hindutva nationalism. However, the present game has been inevitable since the year 2019 when Shiv Sena (SS) parted ways with the BJP after jointly fighting and winning the assembly elections, and after a landslide victory for the alliance in 2014, on the CM post issue, and forming a coalition government Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (Maharashtra Development Front or MVA) with the Congress and the nationalist Congress (NCP). For the last two and half years the state BJP has been a grumpy lot, alleging a great betrayal by the SS and wanting desperately to avenge it; in fact, they’d tried at least three times to derail the coalition so far. This last one, even though the party has continued to be in denial about any involvement, has proved to be the biggest coup within the Sena in history, threatening to finally dislodge the Uddhav Thackeray led MVA government.

 

The most definitive parameter of such political thrillers, the hotel-resort politics, is very much there in this too: first the dissident MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) led by Eknath Shinde, one of the senior-most and loyalist leaders of the Shiv Sena, were lodged in a five-star resort in Surat, a city in the BJP-ruled state of Gujarat, and then shifted unexpectedly at the dead of the same night to a five-star venue in Guwahati, of course, the capital of another BJP-ruled state of Assam with one of the most prominently aggressive national BJP leaders, Himanta Biswa Sarma, being the Chief Minister there. Dissident leader Eknath Shinde reportedly moved in there with around 30 supporting Sena MLAs which has increased to 42 (total of 46 including independent MLAs), as claimed by him on the morning of 23^rd June, 2022, for which he’d provided video proof too.

 

As per the anti-defection law Shinde needs to ensure the support of at least 37 MLAs which is two-thirds of the 55 SS MLAs in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly after the 2019 assembly elections. With apparently more than the required number the dissidents can now avoid disqualification and vote for the BJP in case of a no-confidence motion or in terms of showing the numbers to the Governor of Maharashtra to stake claim for the formation of a new Government with the BJP, the traditional partner of the SS on the basic Hindutva issue till 2019. Buoyed by this support Shinde has been claiming to be the leader of the ‘actual’ Shiv Sena, wanting to retain its identity at any cost. So, now we’re faced with a situation of a Shiv Sena without the Thackeray family whereas it was the legendary Balasaheb Thackeray, father of the present CM Uddhav Thackeray, who founded this party on 19^th June, 1966 in the interests of protecting the rights of the local Marathi population of the state.

 

Emotions ran high last evening, the 22^nd of June 2022, when Uddhav Thackeray, a gentleman-politician as always, made an address in social media appealing to all his MLAs to tell him face-to-face if they wanted him to resign that he said he was ready to do anytime, instead of conspiring behind his back. He added that his becoming the Chief Minister was only accidental which is actually true as the coalition partners wouldn’t have agreed to a non-Thackeray for the post. He also threw a kind of bait to Shinde, asking if they could ensure a new Chief Minister from his party only in the new scenario. In a further confirmation of his intentions Uddhav, found to be COVID positive in the morning, along with his family vacated his official CM residence Varsha late evening the same day, and moved to his family home Matoshree, around 9 km away. And we’d witnessed a spontaneous burst of love and support throughout his short journey home with thousands of Shiv Sainiks (Sena workers) and supporters accosting the traditional Sena leader and his bright promising minister-son Aaditya Thackeray on the streets of Mumbai. In my experience of over three decades this could only be only the second occasion of a spontaneous mass outburst of loyalty for a Thackeray, than during the days when Balasaheb lay seriously ill at Matoshree and eventually passed away in 2012.

 

Perhaps, somewhat nonplused by those emotional proceedings Eknath Shinde shied away from his intended press conference in Guwahati last evening, and instead shot off an ‘emotional’ letter to Uddhav this morning alleging a saga of sheer neglect to the SS loyalists by his coalition government that consistently preferred those of Congress and NCP only. However, despite the charged emotional drama MLAs kept on defecting from the Uddhav group and flying over to Guwahati, at times accompanied by BJP leaders.

 

The main spokesperson of the SS, Sanjay Raut has been saying repeatedly that the CM was not going to resign and that once the ‘imprisoned’ flock of MLAs returns to Mumbai it’d be an entirely different scenario as he has claimed to have been in touch with at least twenty dissident MLAs. He has also said that the traditional supporters of the SS have reiterated their binding faith in the Thackerays, have called the Sena dissidents as ‘traitors’ and have warned that they’d defeat them in the next assembly elections. All these claims and counter-claims about the numbers make this abundantly clear that this political thriller is far from over at the moment. Coincidentally, the 80-year-old Governor of Maharashtra has been in a hospital after being proved COVID positive.

 

Eknath Shinde has made it clear that his fight is to save the SS from this ‘unnatural’ coalition and to reunite the party with its traditional Hindutva partner BJP. Therefore, basically, Shinde wants to be the leader of the ‘actual’ or the breakaway faction of the Shiv Sena, and does not want to merge with the BJP. If he’d like to be considered for the post of the new CM, the BJP is extremely unlikely to agree to that with the dislodged former CM Devendra Fadnavis waiting patiently for over two and half years. Further, the Election Commission has to come into the scenario later as to which faction is going to have the right to continue using the old party symbol. Whatever be the future proceedings of this number-game, now apparently not at all in favor of Uddhav Thackeray, a Shiv Sena without the Thackeray family is not a concept that’d have acceptance from the larger Marathi people of the state.

Shiv Sena Leader Anant Tare: Tributes To A Peoples’ Political Leader And A Personal Friend!

Again, a shocker. Unbelievable news that came at the most unexpected moment. It has happened to us several times in the recent two years—persons quite close to us die and we come to know about them months later. This time the occasion was a nice gathering of a few senior citizens under their Senior Citizens Club in Thane, Mumbai. A member of the Shiv Sena who attended the event not as a senior citizen as he was much younger informed me to my casual inquiry about the famous Shiv Sena leader Anant Tare that he has passed away about a year back. I was taken aback and was too shocked to ask more questions. Instead, I came down to the nearby lane and telephoned Tare’s personal associate Sunil. And to my horror he confirmed the news that Anant Tare had indeed passed away on 22^nd February 2021 at a private hospital in Thane. He was hospitalized for some illness in December and before the day he was to be discharged he had a brain stroke and later a hemorrhage. As the doctors prepared for a brain surgery, he was found to be COVID-19 positive. Afterward, he went into a coma for more than two months, and tragically passed away on that date without recovering.   

 

In my grief that clutched me suddenly I blamed Sunil for not informing us. He said that the times were too sadly hectic and that the news had been constantly flashed in the local news channels and the newspapers. Of course, that time newspapers were still not allowed in our Thane society, but we used to watch the local news channels quite regularly. How we missed such an important news, we don’t know. Perhaps it was the same divine wish that we should not know about it at a time when we were bogged down with personal issues, and then in March 2021 we left Mumbai for a few months, still not knowing the sad truth.

 

Anant Tare had been a prominent Shiv Sena leader and had been the Mayor of Thane Municipal Corporation three times in the nineties. In 2000 he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, and after serving a full term as an MLC Tare worked on as a Deputy Leader of Shiv Sena for Thane and Palghar districts. Anant Tare belonged to the Mahadev Koli community, and all his life he worked tirelessly for the betterment of the Koli community, the oldest fishing community or rather the aboriginals, listed now as a Scheduled tribe, of Mumbai and Thane. The beaches in Mumbai are being called ‘Koliwadas’, because the Koli fisherfolks live in hidden hutments along the seashore. Anant Tare had been their beloved leader—a leader who worked at the grassroots and always for the people. He was also a very religious person worshipping the traditional Koli Goddess Ekvira Devi among other deities and was the president of the Ekvira Devi Temple Trust at Lonavla. His office cum residential campus in Thane-West is truly a place of integration with temples of Goddesses of Amba and Ekvira and a Pir Baba dargah (Sufi place of worship).  

 

I knew Anant Tare since 2006 when I was posted in Doordarshan News in Mumbai. We became friends at the very first meeting, without any motivation behind—like that of exchanging favors or following a ‘give and take’ policy. He had visited our office on many occasions, sometimes just for meeting us or at times coming as a guest in the news or the program shows. His associate Sunil had also been a regular visitor bringing stories of the activities/events of Tare Saheb whom he referred always as ‘Dada’, and we used to include some of the stories displaying the energetic spirit of the lively Kolis. Anant Tare had given me and my wife the unique opportunity of attending a Koli festival in Mumbai, and we were stunned by their lively culture, folk dances and a rich cuisine of the sea fish varieties—I could not even count the number of fish delicacies offered. He has also been inviting us to visit the famous Ekvira Temple in Lonavla, but unfortunately that did not materialize, and now he is no more.

 

Our friendship continued naturally after I left Doordarshan Mumbai and even after I retired from service of the Government of India. We have often been in touch and the kindhearted religious peoples’ leader always helped us as best as he could in times of our personal crisis. While living in Thane after my retirement we visited his office several times and had darshan of the temples and the dargah. He always adjusted his busy schedule to be present during our visits. On an invitation from Sunil in October 2020 to come to Tare Saheb’s Navaratri celebration we went there and to our surprise Anant Tare was present there personally, waiting for us and to felicitate us—myself and my wife Ragini. That was an unforgettable moment, and that day of the 25^th of October 2020 turned out to be the last time we met him. Yes, at that time my wife had more plans of visiting Tare Saheb’s wonderful place.

 

We offer our tributes and homage, belated as for the reasons cited above, to a genuinely true leader and a true family friend. Our heartfelt condolences to his family of wife, a son and and a daughter along with all kin and associates. I always discussed politics of Maharashtra with him, but never went beyond that which he too understood very well. Our common subject of mutual respect had been the great Balasaheb Thackeray and all the Thackerays—Uddhav Thackeray (Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 2019 with a coalition government), his dynamic son cum minister Aaditya Thackeray, dissenting leader Raj Thackeray and all others in their families. Anant Tare started his career as a banker and soon joined politics, inspired by Balasaheb Thackeray. He was said to be among Balasaheb’s most trusted ones. In Anant Tare’s demise at an untimely 66, Maharashtra and the Shiv Sena have lost a great honest leader.

Historic Farewell To Balasaheb Thackeray! Unprecedented And Spontaneous!

Undoubtedly the biggest congregation ever in Mumbai and Maharashtra, and maybe one of the biggest funeral gatherings the world over. For me, an Assamese, it reminds me most emotionally and vibrantly of the unprecedented crowds that came out in the streets of Guwahati to pay last respects to their legendary singer-lyricist-writer-filmmaker Bhupen Hazarika. The reasons for the upsurge seem to be almost similar. Both of these personalities inspired their respective communities to feel pride in being themselves, to try overcoming the darkness of identity or existence and both of them came to their support whenever needed to sail them out of any crisis. 

More than two million people came out in the streets of Mumbai today to give a loving respectful farewell to their most beloved leader. Politicians need to make special arrangements or even bribe their ‘supporters’ to come throng their public meetings. But for this spontaneous leader it had been a spontaneous upsurge right from last night to late evening today. The last journey scheduled to start at 7.30am got delayed by several hours due to the huge congregation at Matoshree in Bandra. It had been a three kilometer long procession heading for Shivaji Park in central Mumbai where another huge gathering waited for a darshan of their leader and to pay their last respects. Apart from the filled streets people crowded the house balconies, the terraces, the skywalks and every possible vantage points for a last view of the cult figure of Maharashtra.  

The last rites of Bal Keshav Thackeray, fondly called Balasaheb, had been performed with full state honors at Shivaji Park around 6pm today. The funeral pyre was lit by his son Uddhav Thackeray helped by his close relatives and Shiv Sena leaders and workers. As the flames of the funeral pyre broke through the gathering dusk emotionally charged chants and slogans in praise of Balasaheb pierced the atmosphere. It was a never-before spectacle in Mumbai, and maybe never again. 

The other parts of the normally bustling city remained deserted with all shops closed, no taxis or autos on the roads, all cinema houses canceling the screenings, all petrol pumps closed and hardly any traffic. Only the public city buses plied and in more numbers for helping people wanting to have a last view of their beloved leader. Many other parts in Maharashtra too observed spontaneous shutdowns. 

Tomorrow is going to be another shutdown of shops and all businesses, schools and movie theaters in Mumbai as one more spontaneous demonstration of respect to the departed leader. Most importantly, the spectacular mass upsurge had been absolutely peaceful. The crowds behaved in an orderly and disciplined manner adhering to the rules set by the administration and police. Finally, hats off to Mumbai Police for managing an occasion of such huge proportions so efficiently, so dexterously and with utmost devotion to duty. All national and regional TV new channels covered the last journey live and with painstaking details. Journalists and reporters worked tirelessly for the last four days particularly since yesterday evening and kept on the whole day today literally with no food or even no water due to the total shutdown of the city.

You may love him or hate him, but Balasaheb Thackeray had all the ingredients of a true and dedicated leader. Whatever he did or spoke or thundered about had been straight from the heart and with conviction without being shrouded in hypocrisy and selfish goals or interests. His words and actions were grounded to reality, but the interpretations that followed endlessly created most of the controversies. Well, that is our reading, you many have yours. We salute him for his originality and motivated leadership.

Balasaheb Thackeray Passes Away: The Tiger To Roar No More!

The most spontaneous leader of Marathi manoos (people) fought for his people till the last moments of his life. Despite being engaged in a death defying struggle for days and months he never weakened away from the issues that concerned his people and his land. A series of most complicated medical problems that continuously eroded his body could not stop him from carrying on writing in his newspaper Saamna for his beloved Marathi people. His life has been of committed leadership, not of politics or political commitments. He never indulged in caste politics or vote bank politics as he said in an interview that only two castes existed for him—the rich and the poor. In his career of active leadership for over 45 years his party Shiv Sena ruled Maharashtra for only five years, but the Leader ruled the minds of Marathi people—always. The roaring Tiger of Maharashtra fell silent today.

Balasaheb Thackeray (1926-2012) passed away at his residence Matoshree in suburban Bandra locality of Mumbai today at around 3.30pm. The most painful declaration was officially made just after 5pm by his main doctor surrounded by emotional and weeping Shiv Sena leaders and workers. At the moment thousands of his supporters and followers and admirers are descending on Matoshree to share the grief and sorrow with the shattered Thackeray family. And tomorrow, hundreds of thousands are expected to come to pay their last respects at the historic Shivaji Park ground in central Mumbai where his mortal remains will kept from 7am in the morning and the last rites will be performed there in the evening.

Here I must seek your permission to allow me to be a little personal, because it is very important to convey the feelings of a non-Marathi person living in Mumbai for many years about this unique cult personality who formed a political party too. While in Assam we had always been impressed by the heroes of Hindi cinema since our childhood days. We clapped for their bold dialogues, for their fights against the villains and for their straight forward honesty. We used to get emotional and inspired.

Coming to Mumbai on an official transfer I slowly took in the new environment and the new culture. Gradually I became familiar with what Balasaheb Thackeray spoke or commanded or did. And, I found all the heroes of Hindi cinema rolled into one whole of Balasaheb Thackeray. I had no doubts in my mind that this great leader who led from instincts, talked straight from the heart with brutal honesty and fearlessness had in fact inspired all the reel-life heroes. I also understood that some realities of Mumbai always got reflected in the movies made in this Indian film headquarters—be it a serious or a crass commercial movie.. I was thrilled to find a real life hero here and to discover for the first time in my life a political leader with such spontaneity. 

As the whole nation pays tributes to Bal Thackeray the politics part is almost thrown out of the window. Such spontaneity creates a mass leader independent of political affiliations, and therefore creates such unprecedented impact just at the thought of losing him. We had discussed this impact already in these pages. In a natural return act of spontaneity normal life in the city has closed down with deserted roads and shops and businesses downing the shutters. Mumbai now prepares for the mass upsurge expected tomorrow. No estimate seems to be practical enough at the moment.

We extend our condolences to the bereaved Thackeray family and the inconsolable Marathi people, not only in Maharashtra but the world over. We pray for the eternal bliss of the noble soul of this phenomenal mass leader.  

Maharashtra Prays For Balasaheb Thackeray!

The night bus arrived almost two hours in advance and deposited us at a particular junction of Mumbai at 2.30am today. The moment we alighted with our baggage two auto-rickshaw drivers approached us hoping for long distance passengers. Since we lived at a nearby locality they promptly informed us that there was no chance of getting a taxi for the night or even later. I asked why.  

“Balasaheb off ho gaya! (Balasaheb has passed away).” We were rudely shocked and dumbfounded, though we knew that he had not been keeping well since the last few days was in very serious condition last week. But it was hard to believe anyway. “When?”  “Just a little while ago. All taxis and autos have gone home fearing problems.”

Feeling sad and heavy we trudged along and suddenly a taxi preparing to wind up for the night came up alongside and offered to take us home. As we were proceeding with the ride gratefully the taxi driver informed us that tomorrow was going to be a total closure in the city. He did not know till what time or date. We already felt an eerie quiet descending on a city that normally never goes to sleep.

I switched on the news channels as soon as we reached our home. It came as a huge relief that Balasaheb was still not giving up the fight and he continued to be in a critical condition. Even before the huge catastrophe of his possible passing away the city and probably the whole state of Maharashtra were close to being paralyzed.

Such is the profound impact at only the hint of him passing away. Such is the influence he commands on people of all walks of life. Because, Bal Thackeray is not just a politician, he has been a leader of immense quality who lives in almost every home of Maharashtra. For a plethora of compulsive reasons like absolute worshiping, spellbound admiration and inspiration, abject fascination, unquestioned following and even fear.

Bal or respectfully called Balasaheb Thackeray is the founding Chief of Maharashtra’s main regional political party, Shiv Sena. His early stint as a cartoonist and later as a journalist-writer helped him find out the hard realities of his state. He founded this party in 1966 to fight for the interests of the local Marathi people who felt threatened by proliferating outside Indian communities settling down in Mumbai and other parts of the state. He also founded this party on the ideology of Hinduism and thus Bal Thackeray became the most controversial leader of Maharashtra as he began to be criticized for following an allegedly communalist line. His outbursts against terrorism and allegedly Pakistan sponsored terrorist attacks have been as ferocious as being consistent. But the people he fought for started loving and adoring him and the communities he allegedly fought against started fearing him almost to a point of surrender. He also earned the tag of a Godfather due to his Robin Hood tactics and measures.

His perfect command over his mother tongue Marathi and also in Hindi and English, and his tremendous power of articulation laced with customary humor and satire won instant admirers all over.    People craved to sit long hours just to hear him speak. He has been a hard, straight and no-holds-barred speaker. He spells it out in hard hitting words—let it be about anything. Thoughts or doubts or unpleasant facts of life that linger in most minds but nobody wanting to mouth these into words get delivered unambiguously and effortlessly by Balasaheb Thackeray. He would not care a dime how somebody or other would feel about it. 

 

Thousands of Shiv Sena workers have been camping in front of his house Matoshree in Mumbai since last night praying and chanting for the speedy recovery their beloved leader. His son Uddhav Thackeray addressed the workers last night saying that his father has tremendous willpower and a miracle is always possible. His nephew Raj Thackeray who formed a separate political party out of family friction never lost his respect and devotion for his mentor and has been visiting Matoshreefor weeks. Prominent Shiv Sena leaders have been insisting since morning today that Balasaheb is taken off from life support system and is responding positively to treatment. No medical bulletin has been released with the team of doctors saying that oxygen is still being administered to the 86 year old cult figure of Maharashtra. 

The stream of visitors to his home is continuing unabated. Top regional and national political leaders irrespective of party affiliations, Bollywood superstars including Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan, top industrialists, and common people are calling on him endlessly. The city of Mumbai today wore a deserted look with most shops and businesses downing shutters and traffic at an unnatural low.A high alert in Mumbai is also sounded and all leave to policemen cancelled despite the Diwali festival. All precautions taken for possibly the biggest news of Maharashtra in recent times.

At the moment people of Maharashtra are praying for a miracle. Maybe hoping against hope. They just cannot afford to be without Balasaheb Thackeray.