Bihar Elections 2020: Bal Thackeray-Era Jinx, Sushant Singh Rajput Case Haunts Shiv Sena’s Campaign
News 18A Shiv Sena leader who was in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 when the Babri Masjid was razed by frenzied kar sevaks, once narrated an anecdote which revealed the talismanic appeal that the late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had over the adherents of aggressive Hindutva. However, despite Bal Thackeray’s charisma and image as a hardline Hindutva mascot, especially during the days of the Ram Temple movement, the Shiv Sena was unable to break substantial ground outside its home state of Maharashtra even during his lifetime. The only time that a Shiv Sena nominee has been elected to a state assembly outside Maharashtra was Pavan Kumar Pandey from Uttar Pradesh’s Akbarpur in 1991 at the zenith of the Ram Mandir movement. Now, the Shiv Sena’s charge in North India is being led by Vinay Shukla ‘Sir’, who is Yuva Sena chief and Maharashtra environment minister Aaditya Thackeray’s Hindi tutor. As the Shiv Sena tries to create a cocktail of Hindutva with local issues for success in other states, this may be hobbled by the stronger pro-Hindutva appeal of the BJP’s star politicians like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.