As the Shiv Sena faces its worst crisis since its inception with most MLAs revolting, Maharashtra minister and party’s youth wing leader Aaditya Thackeray is striking a counterattack. The descendants of the Thackeray family, commonly referred to as the new benign face of the Shiv Sena, have changed their tone in the past few days. When Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to the rebel MLAs camping in Guwahati to return, their leader Eknath Shinde said that while the Shiv Sena chief was seeking reconciliation, his son Aaditya labeled him as dirt from a drain. was. With 39 Shiv Sena MLAs leaving the Thackeray family, 32-year-old Aaditya has addressed party workers at several places, from Karjat in neighboring Raigad district to the Shiv Sena strongholds of Byculla, Kalina and Dadar in Mumbai.
The Yuva Sena led by Aditya has also been at the forefront of opposing the rebel MLAs. On the night when Thackeray left the Chief Minister’s official residence ‘Varsha’ and went back to his private residence ‘Matoshree’, he received a grand farewell all the way. To pacify the crowd, Aditya then came out of Matoshree and shook his hand at the party’s supporters, filling his fists. He has been calling the rebel MLAs traitors in his speeches. “The mess is gone from the party. Now we can do something good,” he said on Monday. Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande said when allegations (of rebels) target her father, he is bound to lead the attack against the rebels and he is doing so.
Shiv Sena MLA Ravindra Vaykar, who is considered close to Thackeray and who is still in his side, said there was anger against the rebels and Aaditya is meeting party workers and garnering support. Sanjay Patil, a researcher at the Department of Civics and Politics In Mumbai, Aaditya said, he has been leading the party for the past few months in a way, as Uddhav Thackeray is plagued by health issues. The chief minister had undergone spine surgery last November and was operated from home for several weeks.
Patil said Aditya also plays an important role in decision making within the party. In 2019, Aaditya became only the second person from the Thackeray family to contest elections. His aunt Shalini had contested the elections on the ticket of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which was led by her uncle Raj Thackeray. The Shiv Sena left the BJP and formed an unlikely alliance with the Congress and the NCP in 2019, with first-time MLA Aaditya Thackeray being made a minister in his father’s cabinet and given the charge of tourism, environment and protocol portfolios. The recent aggression must stem from the do-or-die situation the party is facing now and (this comes) at a time when those close to his family are trying to tarnish the party’s identity. , Patil said.
Ever since he became a minister, Aaditya has also faced criticism for roaming around the Mumbai elite instead of joining the Shiv Sena’s base. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis who called her “Mercedes baby” last month cannot appreciate the struggle of kar sevaks who took part in the movement for a Ram temple in Ayodhya. Thackeray had reportedly ridiculed Fadnavis’s later claim that he was present when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. “These children of Mercedes, born with a golden spoon in their mouth, never had to struggle, nor did they see any struggle,” Fadnavis retorted.
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