Shiv Sena (IAST: Śiva Sēnā) (translation; Army of Shivaji), is a Marathi regional and Hindu nationalist political organisation in India founded on 19 June 1966 by political cartoonist Bal Thackeray. The party originally emerged from a movement in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) demanding preferential treatment for Maharashtrians over migrants to the city. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray. Members of Shiv Sena are referred to as Shivsainiks.

Although the party's primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. In the 1970s, it gradually moved from advocating a pro-Marathi ideology to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist agenda, as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party started taking part in Mumbai (BMC) Municipal elections since its inception. In 1989, it entered into an alliance with the BJP for Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra assembly elections, the latter of which was temporarily broken in October 2014 Assembly elections. The alliance was quickly reformed and Shiv Sena became part of the BJP government in Maharashtra in December 2014. It was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance during 1998–2019, including the Vajpayee Government during 1998–2004 and the Narendra Modi Government during 2014-2019. After the Maharashtra elections in October 2019, Shiv Sena claimed that promises were not kept by their alliance partner BJP and broke ties. Later joined hands with the United Progressive Alliance in a bid to form the government in Maharashtra.

The party has a powerful hold over the Bollywood film industry. It has been referred to as an "extremist", "chauvinist",as well as a "fascist party". Shiv Sena has been blamed for the 1970 communal violence in Bhiwandi, the 1984 Bhiwandi riot, and violence in the 1992–1993 Bombay riots.

The party draws its strength from the support of the Maratha and Kunbi communities of Maharashtra which the Sena drew away from the Congress party.

History

Origins

After the Independence of India in 1947, regional administrative divisions from the colonial era were gradually changed and states following linguistic borders were created. Within the Bombay Presidency, a massive popular struggle was launched for the creation of a state for the Marathi-speaking people. In 1960, the presidency was divided into two linguistic states - Gujarat and Maharashtra. Moreover, Marathi-speaking areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad state were joined with Maharashtra. Bombay, in many ways the economic capital of India, became the state capital of Maharashtra. On one hand, people belonging to the Gujarati community owned the majority of the industry and trade enterprises in the city. On the other hand, there was a steady flow of South Indian migrants to the city who came to take many white-collar jobs.

In 1960 Bal Thackeray, a Bombay-based cartoonist, began publishing the satirical cartoon weekly Marmik. Through this publication, he started disseminating anti-migrant sentiments. On 19 June 1966, Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena as a political organisation.

The Shiv Sena attracted many unemployed Marathi youth, who were attracted by Thackeray's charged anti-migrant oratory. Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalizing South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.

Alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party

The Sena started placing more weight on the Hindutva ideology in the 1970s as the 'sons of the soil' cause was weakening.

The party has been in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra Assembly since 1989. The two formed a government in Maharashtra between 1995-1999. The Sena was the opposition party in the state along with the BJP from 1999 to 2014. However, 25 years old alliance of Sena and BJP was broken in 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections over seat sharing issue and both contested elections independently. After the BJP became largest party in the 2014 Assembly elections, Sena declared that it would play the role of opposition but, after further negotiations, agreed to join the government in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena-BJP combine governs the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Traditionally the main strongholds of Shiv Sena have been Mumbai and the Konkan coastal areas. However, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the result was reversed. The Shiv Sena made inroads in the interior parts of the state, while suffering losses in Mumbai.^[]

In January 2018, Shiv Sena officially cut ties with the BJP and their NDA coalition ahead of the 2019 Indian general election after nearly 30 years of campaigning alongside the BJP. But in February 2019, BJP and Shiv Sena again announced alliance for the general elections as well as the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election.

Formation of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena

Leadership change

Bal Thackeray's son Uddhav Thackeray became the party's leader in 2004, although Bal Thackeray continued to be an important figurehead. After the death of Bal Thackeray on 17 November 2012, Uddhav became the leader of the party but refused to take the title "Shiv Sena Pramukh" (Shiv Sena Supremo).

Party structure and caste composition

Structure

As the Pramukh (Chief) of the party, Bal Thackeray took all major decisions while the activists and members of the Shiv Sena Shiv Sainiks carried out most of the party's grassroots work. During his last days, the day-to-day activities of the party were handled by his youngest son Uddhav Thackeray. Aditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav Thackeray, became the leader of the Yuva Sena, the Youth Wing of the party. After Bal Thackerey's death in 2012, the party was de facto led by Uddhav Thackeray.^[]

Caste composition

People of various Maharashtrian castes worked together in the Sena. The party's leaders mostly came from the so-called "high castes" i.e. Brahmins, CKPs and Pathare Prabhus - Thackerey, Manohar Joshi, Sudhir Joshi, Balwant Mantri, Dr Hemchandra Gupte, Shyam Deshmukh, Madhav Deshpande, Datta Pradhan, Vijay Parvatkar, Madhukar Sarpotdar and Pramod Navalkar. One of the above-mentioned leaders, Dr.Hemchandra Gupte, Mayor of Bombay in the early 70s and the former family physician and confidante of Thackeray, quit Shivsena in "disgust" citing importance given to money, violence committed by the Shivsainiks and Thackeray's support for Mrs.Gandhi during the 1975 emergency.

There were also leaders from other castes such as Dattaji Salvi, Dattaji Nalawade and Wamanrao Mahadik, and those from the so-called lower castes such as Chaggan Bhujbal, Leeladhar Dake, Bhai Shingre and Vijay Gaonkar.

Over the years, other than the Sena Chief, there have been twelve senior leaders in the party, called 'Netas'. Out of these, eight have been upper caste (four Brahmins, two CKPs and two Pathare Prabhus). Others have been either Maratha (Dattaji Salvi), Shimpi (Wamanrao Mahadik), Agri (Leeladhar Dake) or Mali (Chaggan Bhujbal). In fact, Bhujbal quit the party accusing the Sena of upper-caste bias in the leadership.

The number of dalits were also not insignificant. And even after the Sena opposed the reservations proposed by the Mandal commission, there was no dent in the percentage of OBCs in the Sena. In this way, the Sena was successful in uniting all Maharashtrians irrespective of caste under the common "Marathi umbrella". The agenda of preferential treatment for the "sons of the soil" i.e. Maharashtrians brought them all together.

Voter base

Shiv Sena's strength in the late 1980s and early '90s mainly came from the support of the Maratha caste - which it drew away from the Congress. Citing the large percentage of MLAs elected from Shiv Sena belonging to the Maratha caste, Vora from the University of Pune concludes that the Shiv Sena has been emerging as a "Maratha Party".

Chief Ministers

Shiv Sena ministers in central Government

• Manohar Joshi: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, 13th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
• Anandrao Vithoba Adsul: Ministry of Finance and Company Affairs
• Suresh Prabhu :Minister of Fertilizers and Chemicals, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
• Anant Geete: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Minister of Power
• Arvind Sawant: Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Electoral performance

See also

• Hindu nationalist parties

References

Further reading

• Ethnicity and Equality: The Shiv Sena Party and Preferential Policies in Bombay, MF Katzenstein – 1979 – Cornell University Press
• Warriors in Politics: Hindu Nationalism, Violence, and the Shiv Sena in India, S Banerjee – 2000 – Westview Press
• The Charisma of Direct Action: Power, Politics, and the Shiv Sena, JM Eckert – 2003 – Oxford University Press
• Shiv Sena: An Assessment, Palshikar, Suhas, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Pune, Pune (1999)
• Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, 'Power', chapter 3, Mumbai, Mehta, Suketu, Penguin Books (2005)

وصلات خارجية

• Official website

نطقب:Shiv Sena