Uddhav has his task cut out as he tries to infuse young blood into the party and accommodate the old guards as well.
The discordant voices of senior Shiv Sena leaders Manohar Joshi and Mohan Rawle against their leadership may be reflecting a larger power struggle between the party’s old guard and the younger generation, which is seeking an upward mobility, threatening the perch of the veterans.
While Joshi, a former Lok Sabha speaker, is said to be unhappy at being sidelined from the party’s decision-making team and the choice of BMC standing committee chairman Rahul Shewale as the probable candidate for the Mumbai south-central Lok Sabha seat, Rawle, a five-term Lok Sabha MP and former bodyguard of Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray, is reportedly upset that he may not be chosen for the South Mumbai constituency this time around. Rawle ended up a poor third after Milind Deora (Congress) and Bala Nandgaonkar (MNS) in 2009.
Former MLC and labour union leader Arvind Sawant may be the Sena candidate from South Mumbai. BJP MLA from Malabar Hill Mangalprabhat Lodha is also said to be eager to contest from the prestigious constituency.
“There is definitely a feeling of disgruntlement in the party; although no cracks seem to have developed, some activity is happening underground,” admitted a Sena MP. He said that party president Uddhav Thackeray may have put his foot down and sought Joshi to eat humble pie to nip any further rebellion in the bud.
A Sena legislator has admitted that Uddhav may be having a tough time striking a balance between the veterans and the young blood. “He must infuse fresh blood into the party without hurting the veterans,” he added.
A“The simmering disgruntlement may increase or even reach a boiling point during the distribution of nominations for the elections,” said a Sainik, admitting that the challenge for the leadership lay in tapping the potential of the younger generation while accommodating veterans.
He rued that Uddhav, despite his gentle and soft-spoken image, was unable to reach out to the cadre and the leaders beyond his immediate circle. “We criticise NCP chief Sharad Pawar, but also rope him in to lead the efforts to construct Balasaheb’s memorial. People are not fools, they will ask us how can those leaders run a government when they can’t even put up a memorial on their own,” said the Sainik. “Whether it is Joshi or Rawle, their real grouse is regarding the new faces surrounding Uddhav,” said professor Surendra Jondhale of the department of civics and politics at University of Mumbai. He added that the disconnect between Uddhav and the Sainik was clearly visible.
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