The Congress and the NCP have totally lost contact with the city dwellers, be they the middle class or the poor. Their disconnect from the traditional base of the marginalised and the poor has grave consequences. The Dalit Marathi youth does not know which part of his identity gives him more benefits — being Dalit or being Marathi. The same is true of the Maratha caste whose elite is in power and the rest have become neo-lumpens. The upper castes and the entrenched middle classes have entered the so-called “knowledge industry” or have been migrating away. The ruling political parties neither understand the changed social dynamic nor do they appear to care. Since the mid-’90s, when the Shiv Sena-BJP combine came to power, there has been a consolidation of a nexus between the mafia, politicians, police and the builders.

The politically orphaned urban mass was looking for a rallying leader. They have found one in Raj Thackeray. By breaking away from the Shiv Sena, he has been able to distance himself from the Sena-BJP rule in the corporation. He is seen as a real-life Arjun who is ready to take on even his cousin, Uddhav, and his old party organisation, the Shiv Sena. If the Congress had concern, compassion and at least comprehension of the malaise, Raj would not have grown. He is occupying a political space virtually donated to him by the ruling alliance. Raj is now a Midnight Cowboy who will acquire more charisma by going to jail and, if not arrested, he will say that the state dare not arrest him. The Congress and the NCP thought they would benefit from the split in the Shiv Sena. Now they have realised that Raj is in fact a challenge to them.

... contd.