BackThe Raj factor
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena seeks to increase its tally, while emerging as a kingmaker in any post-poll alliance scenario
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This time around, Maharashtra is witnessing an unprecedented political situation. For the first time in over two decades, no two major political parties are in a pre-poll alliance ahead of the legislative assembly elections on 15 October. With an open, multi-polar contest, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) becomes an interesting player of sorts, seeking to increase its tally from the last time, while emerging as a kingmaker in any post-poll alliance scenario. This time around, while at its core, the MNS is continuing to espouse the Marathi Manoos cause, there’s a concrete development-oriented vision the party is basing its electoral thrust on.
Call it immaculate political timing or otherwise, the MNS released its much-awaited Maharashtracha Vikas Arakhada (development blueprint for Maharashtra) around the same time both alliances (Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena) parted ways. The blueprint, which the party says is a product of extensive ground research with detailed inputs from subject experts and other academics, comes across as a major attempt to recalibrate its political strategy, by buying into the national narrative of development and aspiration.
It is this document that Thackeray, through his several political rallies across the state, has tried to communicate to his people, thus signalling a gradual shift towards pragmatism, while keeping parochialism minimal. However, there’s occasional manoos rhetoric on offer, a case in point being the issue of outsiders being deployed as private security guards outside commercial installations (banks, showrooms etc) in Mumbai. But these sporadic outbursts aside, there’s a clear shift in focus towards “Maharashtra First."
The development agenda in the blueprint makes for an interesting reading. It calls for a “small, local, decentralized autonomous government", because the party believes it is “more accessible to locals". It also calls for more power to local bodies in areas like taxation, agriculture, healthcare and sanitation.
“We believe there is too much interference from the state and the Centre on these issues, and local bodies like zilla parishads should be empowered adequately," says Nitin Sardesai, MNS spokesperson. It also calls for a form of “sub-national diplomacy" when it comes to trade-related issues—essentially, better and more direct access to worldwide markets, with the Centre merely playing the role of a facilitator. Sardesai says, “When it comes to trade, we think that certain states have their own specialities (goods) and we (the state) should have the right to conduct trade with foreign markets. The central government could play a more guiding role, especially while granting permissions."
The party also outlines its vision for the state’s education system, which it seeks to address through innovative ideas like “school vouchers", where the state essentially funds the schooling of individual schoolchildren, as opposed to building more schools. While keeping Marathi as the main medium of instruction for the party is a priority, it also calls for compulsory and high-quality English language education in all schools. “We think that English is an important language as it would help the student in the future, when it comes to competing in the job market," says Sardesai.
The party, through its blueprint, also calls for the inversion of the existing (top-down) tax redistribution structure. It outlines a bottom-up structure, where the local body (a municipality, for instance) collects taxes and distributes it upwards—to the state and the central government. The collection of the taxes by the local bodies, according to MNS, would ensure maximum spending of these funds, and would increase decision-making and ensure speedy development at that level.
Given the nature of the contest in Maharashtra, the MNS with an improvement in its tally could emerge as a key post-poll player. The party has fielded more candidates since last time around (239 as opposed to 143 in 2009). Earlier this year, during the Lok Sabha polls, the MNS announced its support for Narendra Modi, after an understanding with BJP leader and union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, where it would not field its candidates in seats where the BJP was contesting. The MNS unsuccessfully fielded 10 candidates for the general election, all of whom lost their deposits. Thackeray is known to have excellent personal equations with Gadkari.
In 2009, the MNS contested 143 seats and won 13 of them, but it made its presence felt by playing the quintessential spoiler (with a 5.71% vote share), splitting the Marathi vote and making it difficult for the Shiv Sena-BJP to muster the numbers to form the government.
Interestingly, reports in the Marathi media also suggest that post-elections, Raj Thackeray could ally with his cousin, political rival and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to tackle the BJP. These suggestions gathered momentum after Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel openly invited Mumbai’s businessmen to invest freely in her state.
Calling it a “hidden agenda by Modi to wield control over Mumbai", Raj Thackeray said that if the situation arose, he is open to an alliance with the Shiv Sena to “save Mumbai". The Maharashtra Times, quoting sources close to both leaders, says, “After the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance broke, the differences between the two have lessened." Days after the BJP broke its alliance with the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray reached out to his cousin Raj over a phone call, enquiring about the latter’s health, when Raj Thackeray was reportedly unwell.
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