In a first, Mumbai decked up for parallel Dussehra rallies on Wednesday as the two Shiv Sena factions — one led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and the other by his successor and bête noire Eknath Shinde — made yet another attempt to gain legitimacy and supporters in a power tussle that had brought Maharashtra to its knees.
While the traditional venue of the rally, Shivaji Park, went to Uddhav Thackeray, it was Shinde who trumped the former chief minister by exposing the chinks in his armour — the Thackeray clan. Sharing the stage with Shinde were Uddhav’s elder brother Jaidev, his estranged wife Smita and nephew Nihar — the son of late Bindumadhav Thackeray, Uddhav’s eldest brother.
To add insult to injury, a vacant chair, which was used by Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray during his last rally in Thane, was placed in the centre of the stage. Another blow to Uddhav at the rally was the presence of Champa Singh Thapa, a trusted aide of the Sena founder who served him for 27 years.
So, what was the subtle, or not-so-subtle, message that Maharashtra’s chief minister was trying to send to his predecessor? Political experts are of the opinion that while skirmishes in the Thackeray family are not new, the latest public display shows forces joining against Uddhav. The fact that these names are from within the family will not just cause him embarrassment in front of an already-weakened cadre but also give legitimacy to the Shinde faction which has been claiming to be the ‘real’ Sena.
As family ties turn the Sena story into a pari-war, News18 takes a look at the Thackeray family tree and tried to find out where loyalties lie.
The tree begins with Prabhodhankar Thackeray and his wife Ramabai Thackeray who had eight children — Bal Thackeray, Ramesh Thackeray, Shrikant Thackeray, Pama Tipnis, Susheela Gupte, Sanjeevani Karandikar, Sudha Sule and Sarla Gadkari. There are also reports which claim that Bal Thackeray had eight siblings.
For the sake of understanding the present chaos in the Sena, News18 shall focus on Bal Thackeray and his brother Shrikant Thackeray.
Bal Thackeray, the tallest leader in Maharashtra who was often labelled the messiah of Hindutva, married Meena Thackeray, who was fondly called Meenatai. They then had three sons: Uddhav, Bindumadhav and Jaidev.
Bindumadhav, the eldest of the three siblings, was never inclined towards politics. Initially, he started his own video company but later switched to producing feature films. He came into the limelight for his maiden Hindi venture ‘Agnisakshi’ starring Jackie Shroff, Manisha Koirala and Nana Patekar, which earned him rave reviews.
Bindumadhav’s life was cut short on April 20, 1996, when he died in an accident as he was returning from a holiday in Lonavala accompanied by his wife Madhavi, son Nihar, daughter Neha, two bodyguards and his driver. He was 42 at the time of his death.
His son Nihar occupied the prime spot on Wednesday at Shinde’s rally. But this was not the first time the two were seen together. When Shinde occupied the CM’s chair, Nihar — a Mumbai-based advocate — had called on him and pledged his support to the coalition government. Nihar also has a BJP connection by marriage as his wife Ankita is the daughter of BJP leader Harshvardhan Patil.
Bal Thackeray’s other son is Uddhav, the former chief minister of Maharashtra, who lost his chair to Shinde’s rebellion which engineered a vertical split in the Sena. Married to Rashmi Thackeray, he has two sons — Aaditya and Tejas. Aaditya was initiated into politics by his grandfather Bal Thackeray and occupied a minister’s position in Uddhav Sarkar but Shinde’s flip robbed him too of his post.
Then comes Bal Thackeray’s third son Jaidev, who was estranged from the family but made an appearance for Shinde on Wednesday. Speaking at the Dussehra rally at MMRDA Grounds, Jaidev said: “For the last week, everyone has been asking me if have joined the Shinde camp. Thackerays can’t be in any faction. I like the ideas put forth by Shinde. I have come here out of love for him.”
He added: “Don’t let Eknath be alone. You all should support him. Shinde is working for poor and for farmers. Shinde is similar to our farmers; he is very hardworking. I will say, let Shinde Rajya come back. Let there be elections and let Shinde Rajya come back. My full support is with Eknath Shinde.”
Jaidev, the middle son, is estranged from the family and is known to have issues with Uddhav. Trouble began in the early 1990s when he separated from his first wife Jayashree Kalelkar, daughter of a Marathi litterateur. The couple has a son named Jaydeep. Jaidev then married Smita Thackeray, who now runs a production house and a non-profit organisation Mukkti Foundation. However, the couple divorced. They have two sons Rahul and Aishwarya, though Jaidev claims he is not Aishwarya’s father. Jaidev is now married to Anuradha with whom he has a daughter named Madhuri.
Jaidev’s relationship with his father was complicated and once in an interview with the party mouthpiece Saamana, Bal Thackeray said, “That boy is a tragedy.”
Coming to Bal Thackeray’s sibling, Shrikant Thackeray was married to Kunda Thackeray and they had a son — Raj Thackeray. Raj Thackeray, once considered the political heir of the late Hindu Hriday Samrat, is the chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) — an outfit he formed in 2006 after leaving the Shiv Sena due to differences with his cousin Uddhav. Raj Thackeray is married to Sharmila and has a son Amit and a daughter Urvashi.
When Shinde took over as chief minister, Raj Thackeray was among those who blamed his cousin for the mess within the Sena. “Neither BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah nor Devendra Fadnavis are responsible for what happened in Maharashtra. Not even Sanjay Raut, although he appeared on television every day and said something… I told Fadnavis not to take much credit as all credit of whatever happened only goes to Uddhav Thackeray.”
As BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis became the deputy chief minister, Raj penned an open letter praising him. “I congratulate you on becoming Deputy Chief Minister… I had hoped that you would once again return as the Chief Minister of the state. But whatever happened let it be. You have proved that the order and direction of the party are above the will of the mind. I’m proud of you,” Raj wrote.
Shinde also met Raj last month amid BJP’s efforts to warm up to the MNS to counter the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in the forthcoming civic body elections. Shinde’s camp of 40 Sena legislators and the BJP are expected to fight the forthcoming local body polls together, and it is likely that they may seek Raj’s help.
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