Shiv Sena’s search for leaders of ‘tall stature’ continues

The crisis of leadership in the Shiv Sena is becoming acuter by the day as the party struggles to find replacements for leaders who have quit or died.

The right-wing party is now unlikely to fill the post vacated after senior leader Madhukar Sarpotdar’s death Saturday last. It is also yet to find a replacement for Pramod Navalkar even two years after his demise, owing primarily to none among the current flock of leaders being of the same “stature”.

At present, Sena has 10 first rank leaders, including executive president Uddhav Thackeray. The party has promoted two second rung leaders — Ramdas Kadam and Gajanan Kirtikar — after Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray left the party in the past five years. Even so, three out of these 10 — Sudhir Joshi, Datta Nalawade and Liladhar Dake — are out of action for health reasons.

“Uddhavji has considered some names for Navalkar’s post, but he could not finalise any of them. He felt that it will be premature to promote many of the second rung leaders before they prove themselves on various fronts,” a source said.

Interestingly, a Saamna editorial on Monday raised a question on who will can fill the vacuum created after Sarpotdar’s death. “Wamanrao Mahadik, Dattaji Salvi, Sharad Acharya, Pramod Navalkar, and now Madhukar Sarpotdar. Our trusted lieutenants are leaving us one by one. We are depressed. From where will we get people of their stature?” the editorial stated.

Suryakant Mahadik, president of Sena’s trade union, Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, had openly expressed a desire to be allowed into the first rank of the party. However, senior leader Manohar Joshi had asked him to concentrate on his work rather than getting into the race to the top. “In the Shiv Sena, everybody gets his dues on time. No one will be neglected if he is doing a remarkable job,” Joshi had said then.