Fifty years ago, a cartoonist named Balasaheb Thackeray founded a party called the Shiv Sena. As it gathered strength in the 1970s and 1980s, various theories were offered about its new found success. One theory, that is still popular today is how Congress chieftains and deep pockets of Maharashtra midwifed the Shiv Sena to crush the communists and trade unions. But then, the new baby (Shiv Sena) eventually became an existential threat to the creator (Congress). Theories apart, the continued existence of the Shiv Sena over the last 50 years reveals five (uncomfortable) realities of Indian politics.
1: Regional aspirations matter: Even after 50 years, the Shiv Sena continues to be a regional party limited to Maharashtra. It has occasionally made brave forays into other states but failed spectacularly. One year after the Shiv Sena was formed, the Congress lost power in Tamil Nadu. It has never come back. In a sense, the Shiv Sena represents the inherent strength and durability of regional parties. The BJP makes a lot of noise about replacing Congress as the sole pan Indian party. But no matter how bombastic the rhetoric, it has to live with powerful regional parties. West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Delhi and Tamil Nadu are ruled by regional parties.
2: Identity Politics matters: In theory, identity politics should have disappeared as Indian democracy matured. The reality is, it nev has and probably never will. The Shiv Sena was founded initially to protect and further the interests of local Marathi speaking people. In its early days, the Shiv Sena targeted South Indians for "taking away jobs" from local Marathi youth. In recent times,mint has targeted migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. In between,mint has targeted Muslims. The fact is, the Shiv Sena is not the only party in India to do this. Identity politics is here to stay.
3: Muscle power matters: Physically intimidating opponents has long been a signature behavior of the Shiv Sena. Often, newspaper and TV channel offices have been attacked for sundry reasons. Through a formidable army of "volunteers", it has held a vice like grip over Mumbai. But then again, Shiv Sena merely represents the reality of Indian politics. From Bihar to West Bengal to Kerala to Maharashtra, muscle power plays a key role in Indian politics.
4: Regional dynasties: In this, contemporary India has an eerie resemblance to ancient and medieval India where regional "kings" held sway over their own "kingdoms". There were rare occasions when rulers like Ashoka or Akbar managed to control almost the whole of India. Today,mint is modern political dynasties that rule. Uddhav Thackeray, the son of Balasaheb Thackeray is the Supremo. His son Aditya Thackeray is the inheritor. Cousin Raj Thackeray fought for the crown, revolted and lost. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, states are peppered with formidable political dynasties.
5: Coalitions Matter: In recent times, the Shiv Sena has become one of the most troublesome allies of the BJP. They even fought the Maharashtra assembly elections of 2014 against each other. But the fact of the matter is that alliances matter. The most telling example of this was Nitish Kumar smoking the peace pipe with his bitter rival and enemy Lalu Yadav in Bihar for electoral advantage. Some alliances do fail, like the ill fated one between the Congress and the Left in West Bengal. But overall, they have worked very across India.
