The second blow to the Shiv Sena was delivered by his cousin Raj, by first resigning from the Sena and later forming his political group, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The very first rally organised by the disgruntled cousin was so huge that it sent panic waves in the Shiv Sena. Since then, for almost two years, a kind of fratricidal war is on and what we are witnessing today is a manifestation of that family conflict.

Neither the family, nor their organisation, Shiv Sena, had any ideological moorings or any well-defined programme. It was a spontaneously formed angry congregation in the mid-sixties, primarily to protect and promote the interests of the Marathi speaking people in the city. It had only been six years since the state was carved out with Mumbai as the capital. The struggle for the state of Maharashtra was led by the leftists who then dreamt that the vast proletariat in the industrial capital would help them bring about a revolution through the ballot. Kerala had elected a communist government in 1957, the first ever electoral victory by any communist party in the world. The comrades in Mumbai thought the progressive ethos of Marathi culture, coupled with Leninist rhetoric, would transform the political discourse.

Maharashtra was carved out because of the spirited progressive movement, but it had no agenda, and its spirit was soon usurped by this regressive and sectarian organisation.

The appeal to the Marathi community even at the time was essentially on the legacy of Shivaji Maharaj, who continues to be the icon of the left and right and even the liberals and intellectuals. But glorifying Shivaji did not amount to a modernist, industrial, contemporary programme of action. It was in this vacuum that the Shiv Sena emerged. The country was going through an economic crisis, stagnation and inflation. No new jobs were being created. In West Bengal the anger led to the rise of Naxalism and the spread of communist ideology. In Tamil Nadu, to the Dravidian revolt. In Punjab, to Akali militancy. Shiv Sena appeared on the scene as a sort of regional party of the Marathi community.

... contd.