This article is for every citizen of Maharashtra please read it carefully till the end. It will give you a perspective towards the political crisis in our state.
Balasaheb Thackeray was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a Marathi political organisation. The party is primarily centred in Maharashtra. To pursue this ideology, he entered politics in 1966 and founded the Shiv Sena. The primary goal was to provide employment stability for Maharashtrians in the state. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, temporary coalitions were formed with practically all Maharashtrian political groups.
Senior figures joined the party in the early 1970s, including Babasaheb Purandare, a Marathi literary historian; Madhav Mehere, Maharashtra’s Chief Attorney for Trade Unions; and Madhav Deshpande, a Trade Union Chartered Accountant.
The Communist Party of India lost control of Mumbai labor unions to the Shiv Sena.
In 1989, the Shiv Sena created its newspaper, Saamna.
The Srikrishna Commission Report, which the Indian government commissioned, accused him and his party of inciting violence against Muslims during the 1992-93 Mumbai riots.
Thackeray’s anti-Muslim stance after the riots was widely seen as anti-Muslim.
The alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party resulted in victory in the Maharashtra State Assembly elections in 1995, bringing the coalition to power.
Bal Keshav Thackeray defined himself as the “remote control” throughout the government’s reign from 1995 to 1999.
He was chastised for admiring Adolf Hitler but subsequently clarified that he did not like him.
Bal Thackeray said in a 1998 interview that his views on the difficulties that his party had with Muslims had altered with time, particularly over the Ram Janmabhoomi—Babri Mosque dispute.
Bal Thackeray was someone who helped Kashmiri Pandits a lot. Apart from Jammu and Delhi, many of them came to Maharashtra. Those who had completed Class 12 had nowhere to study. Balasaheb Thackeray immediately ordered a reservation to be fixed for the refugee Kashmiri youths in all the colleges of Maharashtra. The reservation included Muslims, Ladakhi, Pandit and the children of security forces serving in the valley.When he announced the reservation, he didn’t demarcate on the basis of religion. The announcement was for everybody. This way, he secured the future of 50,000 youths who had the choice of picking up guns in the absence of education.Remember it was in 90s when Ram mandir issue was at its peak then also he did not discriminate between Hindus and other religions.He was the God father of the community and that he will remain in each and every Kashmiri Pandit heart for ever.
He created an entirely new type of politics perfectly aimed at the new generation of the sixties, the particular circumstances of Mumbai and perhaps a cynical estimation of what modern political parties could aim for and achieve.
He always stood for country first and opposed Pakistan vehemently in every platform.
He supported Congress whenever it was required in National Interest.
He freed Mumbai from Clutches of Leftist parties who destroyed Business and Industry. Today, Shiv Sena has a fleet of ambulances with it because it was his idea to serve people irrespective of Caste and Religion.
On June 13, 1948, Thackeray married Meena Thackeray (Sarla Vaidya), and they had three sons: Bindumadhav, Jaidev, and Uddhav.
Meena Tai died in 1995, while Bindumadhav perished in a vehicle accident the following year.
Uddhav succeeded his father as Shiv Sena’s leader.
Uddhav’s son, Aditya, too joined the party’s youth wing and became an MLA , is carrying on the family legacy.
Being the son of Bal Thackeray, the founder and former supremo of Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray has always enjoyed a prominent position of power in the state, and after becoming the CM of Maharashtra, he has become a well-known figure in the national politics. Uddhav Thackeray first got a taste of politics when he was given the responsibility of managing Shiv Sena during the 2002 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, in which the party performed well. It was the first time that he displayed leadership qualities and a flair for politics. He became more involved with the party activities and was declared the working president of Shiv Sena in 2003. In 2004, Bal Thackeray announced him as the next party chief. After the death of Bal Thackeray on November 17, 2012, Uddhav became the leader of the party.
Having entered politics at a very late age, he has had only a few short years to prove his mettle to his party and the state of Maharashtra in general. Despite that Uddhav Thackeray has succeeded in transforming the image of Shiv Sena from a violent and often militant outfit, to that of a well-organized unit that is run by someone who cares about the state and its welfare. Unlike Balasaheb, his father, and Raj Thackeray, his cousin, Uddhav Thackeray has shied away from firebrand politics. Choosing to spend his efforts on creating a better organized and well-grounded political party, Uddhav Thackeray has created a calmer Maharashtra. Even during the covid crisis when the other states were struggling to bring it under control he managed it so well. The people got treated for free at hospitals.
Balram Vishwakarma posted his covid story as follows on Instagram:
1/10
1st wave of COVID. Super sick for 3 days. Lab
called me at 4 PM & said I’m positive. BMC
doctor called at 5 PM who took all my details
& said an ambulance will pick me up within
12hrs. The driver called me at 9 PM. Picked
me up, & took me to a COVID center. Paid FO
for it.
2/10
1st thing the Center person asked if I did my
dinner, and I said yes. He showed me my
room. Clean English washroom shared by 4
people. Clean bed with new linen and pillow.
Got Poha in breakfast, Pav Bhaji in lunch &
Rice Plate in dinner along with meds. Paid F0
for it.
3/10
5 days have passed. No improvement despite
taking meds. The temperature is 103°C, and
SP02 is below 90%. Center Head doctor
followed the protocol decides to shift me to
Cooper Hospital immediately. Arranged for an
ambulance. They dropped me at the Hospital.
Paid FO for it.
4/10
Finished my case paper. They took 710 for the
paper. Took my blood sample, X-RAY sample,
and checked my SPO2+Temp. Immediately
shifted me to the critical care ward. Nurses
inject me with half a dozen injections and
gave me pills. Slept in the CC ward. Paid 310
so far.
5/10
Survived the night. Meds worked.
Temperature is 97°C, and SPO2 is 96%. Some
folks died in front of me. They were wrapped
in the body bag in a professional & dignified
way. Doctors would video call the deceased
family to show the person. The doctor kept me
on observation.
6/10
Stable by morning. They shifted me to the
general ward. Kept me in observation for 3
days. Fed me food, and gave meds through
those 3 days. On the 4th day, the doctor
discharged me by giving me almost 200gm
medicines, stamped my hands & demanded I
do not go out for 14 days.
7/10
Took an Auto Rikshaw from Cooper to home.
Paid 750 for the distance. Cops/ANS/
Healthcare workers would come every day to
check if I am home or if I ran away. I survived
the next 14 days. Spent only Rs60 for the entire
treatment of which 750 was for the
auto-rickshaw.
8/10
While seeing people panic for beds, oxygen
cylinders, and ambulances in cities like Delhi,
Bengaluru, Lucknow, and Kolkata. Folks were
spending tens of lakhs of rupees for COVID-19
treatment. Yes, things were not perfect in
Mumbai and I saw friends lose their loved
ones.
9/10
…and I was straight up lucky to survive the
pandemic but the things which BMC, the
State Government and the entire government
mechanism did for people with transparency
honesty and without any photo op or a savior
attitude, truly made me feel blessed to be in
Mumbai.
10/10
Because of this, I will forever be grateful to the
doctors & support staff of Cooper Hospital,
the healthcare workers at the center,
ambulance drivers, health officers, Shiv Sena
& Uddhav Thackeray.
Sad to see him in this situation today. The
man deserves some respect.
This is just one story. There are thousands of stories like this of people who are grateful to Uddhav Thackeray when he handled the covid situation with such ease.
Also when the entire country was burning down due to Agneepath protests Maharashtra was the only state where there were no riots and total peace only because of Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership and Shiv Sena
Surjitt Sahani
