Sena coup: Is it a wake up call for dynastic parties?

Yes. It surely is a wake-up call for all such parties. I believe that the rebellion raised by Shiv Sena faithful Eknath Shinde with the support of nearly 50 MLAS including a majority of ministers in the MVA government in Maharashtra comes as a wake-up call for all those parties that are controlled, guided, and led by dynasties in the Indian political world.

The political drama that unfolded in very fast developments over the last week has thrown many questions apparently surrounding the style of dynastic leaders and the suffocation their 'faithful' followers like Eknath Shinde suffered due to this style of power politics.

Frustrated by the 'surrender' of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's ideology and principles for the sake of power by his own son Uddhav, Shinde and his camp have made it clear that they have opted for this extreme step to 'set the things right' meaning a return to the core ideology Hindutva as advocated and practiced by the late Bal Thackeray. This inter alia means joining hands with their old and original ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and giving a stable, working government to the state. No wonder then the battered Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, his close aide Sanjay Raut, son Aaditya and other partners in the MVA are pointing an accusing finger at the BJP for engineering this 'coup' in the party.

Dynastic parties and politics are not a new phenomenon in Indian democracy. Since the days of yore, India had witnessed and lived in a dynastic government system when there used to be kings and emperors in the past. Until recently, at the time of independence, we had so many princely states that enjoyed the faith and reverence of the people. It was Indira Gandhi who abolished the special privy purse facility due to these dynasties since the British days. But that apart, they never lost the faith and love of their 'praja' either.

However, recently, we have seen the emergence of dynastic political parties in different states of the country. We have the Gandhi family controlling and running the Congress party which is the largest political party that ruled the country for over six decades. Among others there is DMK in Tamil Nadu of Karunanidhi, AIADMK of J Jayalalitha, TRS in Telangana run by K S Rao, Samajwadi Party of the Yadavas of UP, RLD of Ajit Chaudhary, RJD of the great fodder scam accused Lalu Prasad Yadav, National Conference of the Abdullahas, Chautalas and Hudda in Haryana, Sangma in Meghalaya, NCP of Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena of the Thackerays, YSR of Andhra Pradesh, Deve Gowdas of Karnataka and so on.. the list is unending.

The thread that binds these families with all these parties is so strong that they are hardly inseparable from each other. Thus, we cannot even imagine the Congress without the Gandhis and this has been evident in case of the premature rebellion by the G23 in the party. Similarly, there will be no Shiv Sena sans the Thackerays, SP without Mulayam-Akhilesh, RJD minus Lalu family, TRS sans K S Rao, and so on. That is in each case the party minus the family name plate seems like an impossible idea.

Not that these parties had not seen divisions but even, in that case, the family hold remained intact and those breakaway factions had to either join a different party or come back to their old one seeking pardon with folded hands.

However, the sudden implosion in Maharashtra has stunned the political observers. Never before did such a thing happen where a group of over two-thirds of MLA and Ministers raises the rebellion flag and claims to be 'original' Shiv Sena and even named their faction 'Shiv Sena Balasaheb'. This is all surprising and stunning. The speed with which it happened has taken all the political pundits by surprise.

Can a dynastic party be challenged in this way? Perhaps, Eknath Shinde, once considered as 'Man Friday' of Uddhav Thackeray has shown the way. Fifty-six years after the Shiv Sena was founded, the Thackerays are on the brink of losing their 'Sena'.

And this happened in the founding month of the party. What a coincidence!

Balasaheb Thackeray founded Shiv Sena on June 19, 1966, primarily to safeguard the interests of 'Marathi Manus'. But later donned the shawl of Hindutva and joined hands with the BJP for political power. And now the party is plagued by a coup based on the allegation that Bal Thackeray's son Uddhav and grandson Aaditya have deviated from his core ideology and compromised with the parties that were always on the target of senior Thackeray all along. Shinde is now laying claims that they are the true followers of the founder of the Sena and thus, whatever may be the end result of this coup, Shinde has shown the way to challenge the dynastic parties in India.

Thus, Maharashtra can serve as a wake-up call for all the dynastic political parties and let their leaders be cautious that they would no longer be in a position to perpetually reap political benefits. Their supremacy and hold can be challenged anytime and the way to this is shown by Eknath Shinde.

We have the best example of the grand old Congress Party that still depends on the leadership of Sonia, her son Rahul and her daughter Priyanka for guidance. Those who felt 'suffocated' in the party formed a group of 23 and tried to challenge the leadership of the Gandhis but failed and were sidelined. Their voices of dissent and displeasure were either silenced or they were thrown out of the party.

The same is the case with the regional political parties. Their leaders (Mostly families) have such a firm grip on the party organization and apparatus that anyone raising the flag of rebellion is either expelled or silenced or forced to join the other party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been continuously launching a scathing attack on these dynastic parties to save democracy. "Democracy in the country will be strengthened only when all political parties shun dynasty politics and allow the youth of the country to reach the top," Modi said, terming dynastic politics as a challenge to democracy.

Rebellion or leaders deserting party perse is not new to Shiv Sena or any Indian political party including the BJP. In the past also the top leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, and even Thackeray's nephew Raj too followed the suit. Bhujbal deserted the party with 18 MLAs in 1991 but 12 of them rejoined the Thackeray camp the same day. Narayan Rane did the same in 2005 and a year later Raj left and formed his new outfit named Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Rane and Raj did not return.

But the rebellion engineered by Shinde is totally different from the earlier ones. Here he led those 50 plus MLAs who were frustrated, disillusioned, and devastated as they felt criminally neglected by the party leader and the chief minister who according to them happily joined the Congress and the NCP campo for the sake of power. Shinde's coup is probably the first of its kind where the sole intention of the groups is to save 'Hindutva' and take the party back to the Hindutva ideology adhered to by its founder Balasaheb Thackeray. They felt that the MVA experiment was in fact, annihilating the Shiv Sena and that Uddhav Thackeray might be presiding over this annihilation set in motion by Sharad Pawar.

Whether Shinde succeeds in his mission or not can be debatable but one thing is sure he has shown the way to challenge the dynastic leadership that has taken for granted the support of their party workers and leaders.