Strident tiger now needs sober stripes

MUMBAI: While taking a quantum leap from Matoshree to Mantralaya, the seat of the state administration, Uddhav Thackeray, the CM-designate, will have to alter Shiv Sena's saffron agenda to suit the secular character of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, said political analysts on Wednesday.


Pointing out that being a monolithic party, the Sena has a narrative of its own which is far removed from the one scripted by mainstream political outfits such as Congress and NCP, a senior NCP functionary said, "Uddhav Thackeray will have to understand the relevance of consensual politics, accountability and collective responsibility of the state cabinet."

"NCP-Congress may have over the years differed on many points, but the two parties have steadfastly adhered to basic Nehruvian tenets which are crucial to the democratic functioning of a popular government. Sena should learn to take the middle path," he said.

Sonia Gandhi told NCP in no uncertain terms that Sena will have to jettison its ideological baggage if it wants to head the Maha Vikas Aghadi, sources said. In fact, Sonia, during the initial rounds of talks, took exception to Maha Shiv Aghadi, as the new alliance was referred to in political circles of Mumbai and New Delhi, it is learnt.

However, Sonia was pacified when a key NCP functionary told her that the nomenclature was minted by the media. Soon, the

Sena-NCP-Congress alliance

was known as Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"While 'Shiv' in Maharashtra may mean King Shivaji, in north India it symbolises Lord Mahadev. Congress wanted to keep away, and rightly so, from religious imagery," said a party leader. While admitting that persuading Shiv Sainiks, who have for long been weaned on militant Hindutva, to accept a cosmopolitan agenda will be a tough task for Thackeray, a Sena MLA said, "However, the shift from Hindutva to left-ofcentre will eventually help the party expand its voters' base across the state." Tackling economic issues - unemployment, farmers' distress, loans to young entrepreneurs - will help Sena reach out to young voters, he added.

That the Tiger is willing to change stripes became evident when Thackeray, while addressing a joint conclave of Sena-NCP-Congress MLAs at a city hotel on Tuesday, refrained from striking a strident note. In his 20-minute speech, the Sena president, while thanking NCP-Congress for electing him as the Aghadi's leader, referred only once to Hindutva. Nor did he talk of the "bhagwa" flag being unfurled atop Mantralaya, a popular Sena line which sends Sainiks into raptures at party jamborees. A Sainik who broke into a prolonged slogan eulogising the era of Maratha rule was silenced by a Congress leader with a wave of hand.

NCP-Congress may ask Thackeray to rein in Saamna. Both NCP and Congress want Sanjay Raut, senior Sena leader and Saamna's executive editor, to stop dipping his pen in vitriol while penning his daily leader comments. During the five-year saffron rule in the state, Raut would from time to time slam BJP bigwigs, including PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.

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