55 years of Shiv Sena… Not only Uddhav, Balasaheb Thackeray also had alliance with Congress & Muslim League

Mumbai : Shiv Sena has turned 55 today. On 19 June 1966, famous cartoonist Balasaheb Thackeray formed his political party and from there the Shiv Sena was born. The foundation of this party was laid on the issue of struggle for the rights of the Marathi people. Balasaheb Thackeray himself never contested elections but today his son Uddhav Thackeray is the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Not only this, his grandson Aditya Thackeray is also working as a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government. Like every time, due to Corona infection, Shiv Sena has refrained from celebrating Foundation Day with pomp this time.

To form a political party, Balasaheb gave the slogan of Bhumiputra. At the time of formation of Shiv Sena, Balasaheb Thackeray had given the slogan, “Anshi Takke Samajkaran, Vis Takke Rajkaran”. That is, 80 percent social service and 20 percent politics. Before the formation of Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray was a cartoonist in an English newspaper. His father had agitated for the demand of a separate state for the Marathi people. In view of the increasing number of people from other states in Bombay, he started a newspaper named ‘Marmik’. Shivsena became very popular only a few years after its formation due to lifting the issue of people of Maharashtra. During this, there were many attacks done on people who came to Maharashtra to do business from other states. However, by 1990, the party shifted from the issue of Marathi Manush to politics of Hindutva.

When was the election fought for the first time by Shiv Sena?

In the year 1990, Shiv Sena contested the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections for the first time, in which 52 out of 183 candidates of the party won. After this, for the first time in the Lok Sabha elections held in 1989, a Shiv Sena leader reached the Lok Sabha as an MP. Vidyadhar Sambhaji Gokhale, who won the Bombay North Central seat, became the first Shiv Sena MP. Shiv Sena currently has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Even though Balasaheb himself had never contested elections, he was considered the kingmaker of Maharashtra politics in the 90s. However, in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray took a big decision and decided to take over the state by becoming the CM himself. Uddhav’s son Aditya Thackeray also contested the assembly elections and won.

The main stronghold of Shiv Sena is Mumbai and Konkan coastal region. However, in the 2014 elections, it was defeated in Mumbai. However, it made its place in the interiors of Maharashtra for the first time. In Shiv Sena, instead of the president, there is the post of chief. Balasaheb Thackeray remained in this post. After his death, Uddhav Thackeray is the biggest leader of Shiv Sena. However, he refused to take the post of Shiv Sena chief.

Some people believe that Uddhav has forged an alliance with the Congress, for which Shiv Sena and Congress have come together for the first time. But in the year 1971, Balasaheb had made an alliance with Congress-O, the anti-Indira Gandhi faction of Congress which broke away from Congress in 1969. During this, 3 candidates fielded in the Lok Sabha elections on Shiv Sena ticket from Balasaheb, who could not win. In 1975, when Indira Gandhi declared a national emergency, Balasaheb supported that decision. He also supported Indira Gandhi in the 1977 elections after the Emergency. After this, in 1980 too, Shiv Sena supported the Congress in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Bal Thackeray and the then Maharashtra Chief Minister AR Antulay are believed to have had a close relationship.

Shiv Sena also had alliance with Muslim League

In the year 1989, Shiv Sena had also entered into an alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), going against the ideology. During this, Balasaheb shared the stage with Muslim leader Ghulam Mohammad Banatwala and also participated in the election campaign. Ghulam Mohammad Banatwala was considered one of the biggest critics of Balasaheb. Even in the year 1970, during the election of the mayor, Shiv Sena took support from the Muslim League. However, relations between the Muslim League and Shiv Sena were never normal and tensions persisted.

Distance between BJP increased over seat sharing

In the year 2014, the alliance of BJP and Shiv Sena was broken over the sharing of seats. Both the parties contested the assembly elections separately but later formed and ran the government together. However, before the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the paths of both the parties parted and just before the elections, the alliance was announced again. Shiv Sena Sena got 56 seats in 2019 as compared to 2014. Shiv Sena has never been able to touch the figure of 100 seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections since 1990. It got a maximum 73 seats in 1995. It has got 56 seats in the 2019 assembly elections too, but with the support of NCP and Congress, Uddhav has been able to become the CM.