Brand Thackeray no longer immune to whims of voters

Shinde's Sena won 57 seats, as opposed to Sena (UBT)'s 20 this should worry Thackeray about the Sena mantle moving to his rival

- Yogesh Naik

Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray famously refrained from electoral politics, choosing as he said, when the Shiv Sena-BJP combine first came to power in Maharashtra in 1995, to work as the "remote control." But nearly 30 years on, both Indian politics and the Shiv Sena are a different beast. In 2019, Balasaheb's heir Uddhav was convinced by Sharad Pawar to head the Maha Vikas Aghadi government as its chief minister. Thackeray did not face the electorate and was elected Member of the Legislative Council instead.

In light of Saturday's results, a question that's no longer preposterous and worth asking is: Would he have won had he contested? The two Thackerays who did contest had mixed results. Raj Thackeray who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (and who is opposed to Uddhav) fielded his son Amit from Mahim-a constituency dominated by upper caste, middle class Maharashtrians. Raj Thackeray himself is a resident there. In a triangular fight among Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS, Amit Thackeray came third.