Shiv Sena
Encyclopedia
Shiv Sena is a political party
in India
founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray
. The party originally emerged out of a movement in Mumbai, (then called Bombay), broadly favouring increased influence of Maharashtrians
in Maharashtra
. It built a strong base amongst the Marathi community in the sixties based on its ideology that Maharashtra belonged to the Marathi community and that they be given preference over migrants from other Indian states.
Although the party's primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. Gradually the party moved from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology, to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist
agenda as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party
. The party has taken part in numerous Maharashtra state governments at several times and was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance
cabinet that ruled India between 1998-2004. Members of Shiv Sena are referred to as Shiv Sainiks.
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. Mumbai, 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, there was a steady flow of South India
n migrants to the city, and who came to take over many white-collar employments.
In 1960 Balasaheb Thackeray, a Mumbai-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. At the time of its foundation, the Shiv Sena was not a political party as such.
The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of disgruntled and often 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, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.
Another main characteristic of the early years of the Shiv Sena was the frequent struggles against communist trade union
s. Prior to the formation of the Shiv Sena, the Communist Party of India
played a dominant role in labour politics in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena was supported by elements inside the Indian National Congress
, who hoped that the new organization would be capable of weakening the communist trade union influence. Soon Shiv Sena cadres were involved in a series of violent conflicts with the communist trade union activists. In 1970 the CPI MLA of Dadar
, Krishna Desai, was assassinated. CPI charged the Shiv Sena for the murder, and held Thackeray as responsible for the act.
.
ideology in the 1970s as the hallmark 'sons of the soil' cause was weakening. With the shift to Hindutva, Thackeray increasingly made some controversial moves against Muslim
s and neighboring Pakistan
.
The party has ruled the state in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) from 1995-99. The Sena is the opposition party in the state along with the BJP since 1999. 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
.
was expelled from the party, which sparked internal conflict in the party. In December the same year Raj Thackeray
, Bal Thackeray's nephew, left the party. Raj Thackeray later founded a new party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
(MNS). After the split, clashes have occurred between followers of the two Senas.
Although the MNS is a break-away group from the Shiv Sena, the party is still based Bhumiputra ideology. When unveiling the party in an assembly at Shivaji Park he said, that everyone is anxious to see what will happen to Hindutva. When unveiling, he also said,
"I shall elaborate on the party's stance on issues like Hindutva, its agenda for development of Maharashtra and the significance of the party flag colours at the 19 March public meeting."
Raj Thackeray considers himself an Indian nationalist (not just a regionalist) and claims that the Congress is two-faced.
.
The recently refurbished Sena Bhavan located in the Dadar
locality in Mumbai has served as the headquarters of the Sena since 1976.
The Sena's shakhas (Branches) spread throughout the state of Maharashtra as well as in selected locations in other states decide upon most of the local issues in their particular cities or towns.
Aditya Thackeray
son of Shivsena Karyapramukh Uddhav Thackeray
working as Youth Leader.
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:left;"|Election
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Candidates
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Elected
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Votes
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Source
|-
|align=left|1971 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|5
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|227,468
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1980 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|2
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|129,351
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1989 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|3
| style="text-align:right;"|1
| style="text-align:right;"|339,426
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1989 Goa
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|4,960
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1991 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|22
| style="text-align:right;"|4
| style="text-align:right;"|2,208,712
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1993 Madhya Pradesh
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|88
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|75,783
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1996 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|132
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|4,989,994
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1996 Haryana
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|17
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|6,700
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1997 Punjab
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|3
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|719
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1998 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|79
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|6,528,566
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1998 Delhi
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|32
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|9,395
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1998 Himachal Pradesh
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|2,827
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1999 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|63
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|5,672,412
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1999 Goa
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|14
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|5,987
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2000 Orisa Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|16
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|18,794
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2001 Kerala
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|1
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|279
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2002 Goa
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2004 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|56
| style="text-align:right;"|12
| style="text-align:right;"|7,056,255
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2009 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|22
| style="text-align:right;"|11
| style="text-align:right;"|6,828,382
| style="text-align:right;"|
|}
elections on February 2007, together with their partner the Bharatiya Janata Party
in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and are set for another five year term. They have achieved this on the platform of preference to Maharashtrians, which appealed to their vote bloc. The victory was noteworthy for reasons more than one. It means that by 2012, when the next BMC elections are due, the Shiv Sena would have ruled over Mumbai for an uninterrupted spell of 20 years. It was also a relief to the Junior Thackeray who personally supervised the campaign strategy.
The Sena-led combine, which had suffered serious reverses in all the assembly by-elections in the past two years got 111 of the 227 seats. Out of the declared 226 seats, the Sena has won 83 seats, BJP 28, the left-wing opponents, the Indian National Congress
won 71, and other opposition groups Nationalist Congress Party
won 14 and MNS won 7.
Shivsena's Youth Wing (YUVA SENA) & Student Wing (Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena) won 8 seats out of 10 in the recent Senate Election of Mumbai University under youth leader Aditya Thackeray
.
area of Mumbai
, the largest slum in Asia. However, the state's policy of giving free houses to slum dwellers has been mired in controversy ever since it was introduced by the Shiv Sena-BJP government a decade ago.
, particularly in the financial capital of Mumbai. Nearly 40 flyovers in Mumbai and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway
were constructed under the Shiv Sena administration, which led to a significant infrastructural boom in Mumbai. While successive State governments have been guilty of neglecting Mumbai's transport problems, the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government drastically altered the course. As quoted by a local newspaper, " by initiating a range of road schemes, the Sena unequivocally opted for private, motorised transport in preference to public transport." The report actually says that "critics castigate" this policy, pointing out that "only nine per cent" of the city's commuters use private transport.
These moves have been a crucial factor in its increasing popularity within India and the promises of further improvement have boosted the Shiv Sena's campaigns.
, Jammu and Kashmir
on 14 July 2008, as they were blocked by Central Reserve Police Force personnel from marching towards Jammu
city. The Sena was demonstrating against a decision by the government of Kashmir
to not hand over land to a Hindu shrine board, as the proposal had caused some of the largest protests in Kashmir's history, and stirred resentment and fears of "demographic dilution". Shiv Sena has raised the squadron on occasion since at least 1987, when 125 activists participated in what was termed "morale boosting" activities aimed at strengthening the Hindu community in Punjab
during the 1980s insurgency there. The group also vowed to send this squad to Srinagar in 2004 to hoist the Indian flag at the city's main intersection, Lal Chowk. Later that year, the Shiv Sena attempted to disrupt India and Pakistan from playing cricket in Delhi and even in for 2011 world cup they warned to Pakistan team Shiv Sena claims the members are willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believe is India's rightful existence as a Hindu nation.
and Marathi
TV news channels IBN-7
and IBN-Lokmat
in Mumbai
and Pune
were attacked and vandalised by Shiv Sena activists on 20 November 2009. Shiv Sena attributed the attacks to the criticisms of Balasaheb Thackeray by the news channel over his remarks on Sachin Tendulkar
. Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha
MP Sanjay Raut described the attacks as "spontaneous". Various Shiv Sena spokespersons have been justifying the attacks.
Books — English
Articles
articles available in net
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray is the executive president of the Shiv Sena, a right wing, Marathi ethnocentric regional political party based in the Indian state of Maharashtra...
. The party originally emerged out of a movement in Mumbai, (then called Bombay), broadly favouring increased influence of Maharashtrians
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. It built a strong base amongst the Marathi community in the sixties based on its ideology that Maharashtra belonged to the Marathi community and that they be given preference over migrants from other Indian states.
Although the party's primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. Gradually the party moved from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology, to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist
Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India...
agenda as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
. The party has taken part in numerous Maharashtra state governments at several times and was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
cabinet that ruled India between 1998-2004. Members of Shiv Sena are referred to as Shiv Sainiks.
Origins
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
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
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. Moreover, Marathi-speaking areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad state
Hyderabad State
-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...
were joined with Maharashtra. Mumbai, in many ways the economic capital of India, became the state capital of Maharashtra. On one hand, people belonging to the Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
community owned the majority of the industry and trade enterprises in the city. On the other, there was a steady flow of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n migrants to the city, and who came to take over many white-collar employments.
In 1960 Balasaheb Thackeray, a Mumbai-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. At the time of its foundation, the Shiv Sena was not a political party as such.
The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of disgruntled and often 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, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.
Another main characteristic of the early years of the Shiv Sena was the frequent struggles against communist trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s. Prior to the formation of the Shiv Sena, the Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
played a dominant role in labour politics in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena was supported by elements inside the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
, who hoped that the new organization would be capable of weakening the communist trade union influence. Soon Shiv Sena cadres were involved in a series of violent conflicts with the communist trade union activists. In 1970 the CPI MLA of Dadar
Dadar
Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...
, Krishna Desai, was assassinated. CPI charged the Shiv Sena for the murder, and held Thackeray as responsible for the act.
1995 election
The Shiv Sena-BJP combine won the 1995 Maharasthra state elections. After assuming state government power, Shiv Sena began to redress its organisation. A 'Shivsena Rajyapramukh Parishad' convention was held in Mumbai six months after the election. At the meeting a large number of local party leaders and representatives of various wings of the party participated. The meeting filled the function of reorienting the party organisation to adapt to the new tasks of being a party in government.It renamed Bombay as MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
.
Shift to Hindutva and alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party
The Sena started placing more weight on the HindutvaHindutva
Hindutva is the term used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism. Members of the movement are called Hindutvavādis.In India, an umbrella organization called the Sangh Parivar champions the concept of Hindutva...
ideology in the 1970s as the hallmark 'sons of the soil' cause was weakening. With the shift to Hindutva, Thackeray increasingly made some controversial moves against Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and neighboring Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
The party has ruled the state in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
(BJP) from 1995-99. The Sena is the opposition party in the state along with the BJP since 1999. The Shiv Sena-BJP combine governs the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Traditionally the main strongholds of Shiv Sena have been Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and the Konkan
Konkan
The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...
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
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
.
Raj Thackeray split
In July 2005 Narayan RaneNarayan Rane
Narayan Rane is an Indian politician. He is currently the Minister for Industry, Port, Employment and Self-employment in the Government of Maharashtra. He was a member of Shiv Sena until July 2005, then he joined Indian National Congress party....
was expelled from the party, which sparked internal conflict in the party. In December the same year Raj Thackeray
Raj Thackeray
Raj Shrikant Thackeray is the founder and president of the right-wing Marathi ethnocentric regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the state of Maharashtra, India...
, Bal Thackeray's nephew, left the party. Raj Thackeray later founded a new party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a political party based in Maharashtra operating on the motto of "Sons of the Soil". It was founded on the March 9, 2006 in Mumbai by Raj Thackeray after he left the Shiv Sena due to differences with Uddhav Thackeray and sidelining in major decisions like...
(MNS). After the split, clashes have occurred between followers of the two Senas.
Although the MNS is a break-away group from the Shiv Sena, the party is still based Bhumiputra ideology. When unveiling the party in an assembly at Shivaji Park he said, that everyone is anxious to see what will happen to Hindutva. When unveiling, he also said,
"I shall elaborate on the party's stance on issues like Hindutva, its agenda for development of Maharashtra and the significance of the party flag colours at the 19 March public meeting."
Raj Thackeray considers himself an Indian nationalist (not just a regionalist) and claims that the Congress is two-faced.
Party structure
As the Pramukh (Chief) of the party Balasaheb Thackeray takes all major decisions, and has claimed that he ran the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government of 1995 to 1999 with what he called a 'remote control.' Activists and members of the Shiv Sena call themselves Shiv Sainiks, and carry out most of the party's grassroots work. In recent times, Thackeray does not concern himself with day-to-day activities of the party, which is run by his youngest son Uddhav ThackerayUddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray is the executive president of the Shiv Sena, a right wing, Marathi ethnocentric regional political party based in the Indian state of Maharashtra...
.
The recently refurbished Sena Bhavan located in the Dadar
Dadar
Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...
locality in Mumbai has served as the headquarters of the Sena since 1976.
The Sena's shakhas (Branches) spread throughout the state of Maharashtra as well as in selected locations in other states decide upon most of the local issues in their particular cities or towns.
Aditya Thackeray
Aditya Thackeray
Aaditya Thackeray is the son of Uddhav Thackeray, Executive President of Shiv Sena, and grandson of Balasaheb Thackeray. He is currently head of Yuva Sena, a youth wing of Shiv Sena.Education:Aaditya has done his schooling from Bombay Scottish School Mahim...
son of Shivsena Karyapramukh Uddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray is the executive president of the Shiv Sena, a right wing, Marathi ethnocentric regional political party based in the Indian state of Maharashtra...
working as Youth Leader.
Electoral performance
|-! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:left;"|Election
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Candidates
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Elected
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Votes
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"|Source
|-
|align=left|1971 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|5
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|227,468
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1980 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|2
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|129,351
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1989 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|3
| style="text-align:right;"|1
| style="text-align:right;"|339,426
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1989 Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|4,960
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1991 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|22
| style="text-align:right;"|4
| style="text-align:right;"|2,208,712
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1993 Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|88
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|75,783
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1996 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|132
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|4,989,994
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1996 Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|17
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|6,700
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1997 Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|3
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|719
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1998 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|79
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|6,528,566
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1998 Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|32
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|9,395
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1998 Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|2,827
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1999 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|63
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|5,672,412
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1999 Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|14
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|5,987
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2000 Orisa Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|16
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|18,794
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2001 Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|1
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|279
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2002 Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2004 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|56
| style="text-align:right;"|12
| style="text-align:right;"|7,056,255
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|2009 Parliament
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
| style="text-align:right;"|22
| style="text-align:right;"|11
| style="text-align:right;"|6,828,382
| style="text-align:right;"|
|}
Recent electoral victories
The Shiv Sena achieved electoral victories in local MaharashtraMaharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
elections on February 2007, together with their partner the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and are set for another five year term. They have achieved this on the platform of preference to Maharashtrians, which appealed to their vote bloc. The victory was noteworthy for reasons more than one. It means that by 2012, when the next BMC elections are due, the Shiv Sena would have ruled over Mumbai for an uninterrupted spell of 20 years. It was also a relief to the Junior Thackeray who personally supervised the campaign strategy.
The Sena-led combine, which had suffered serious reverses in all the assembly by-elections in the past two years got 111 of the 227 seats. Out of the declared 226 seats, the Sena has won 83 seats, BJP 28, the left-wing opponents, the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
won 71, and other opposition groups Nationalist Congress Party
Nationalist Congress Party
The Nationalist Congress Party is a centre to centre left political party primarily based in the state of Maharashtra, India.-Background:...
won 14 and MNS won 7.
Shivsena's Youth Wing (YUVA SENA) & Student Wing (Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena) won 8 seats out of 10 in the recent Senate Election of Mumbai University under youth leader Aditya Thackeray
Aditya Thackeray
Aaditya Thackeray is the son of Uddhav Thackeray, Executive President of Shiv Sena, and grandson of Balasaheb Thackeray. He is currently head of Yuva Sena, a youth wing of Shiv Sena.Education:Aaditya has done his schooling from Bombay Scottish School Mahim...
.
Claims of benefits to Maharashtrians
Supporters of the Sena have claimed that the party has benefited the Marathi Manus (Marathi man) in Mumbai, especially in the public sector.Dharavi emancipation
The Sena claims to have played a central role in the emancipation of 500,000 slum dwellers in the DharaviDharavi
Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or...
area of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, the largest slum in Asia. However, the state's policy of giving free houses to slum dwellers has been mired in controversy ever since it was introduced by the Shiv Sena-BJP government a decade ago.
Improvements in infrastructure
In addition, the Sena has been active in trying to improve infrastructure in MaharashtraMaharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, particularly in the financial capital of Mumbai. Nearly 40 flyovers in Mumbai and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway
Mumbai-Pune Expressway
The Mumbai Pune Expressway , officially the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway is India's first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access controlled tolled expressway. It spans a distance of connecting Mumbai, the administrative capital of Maharashtra and the financial capital of India, with Pune, an...
were constructed under the Shiv Sena administration, which led to a significant infrastructural boom in Mumbai. While successive State governments have been guilty of neglecting Mumbai's transport problems, the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government drastically altered the course. As quoted by a local newspaper, " by initiating a range of road schemes, the Sena unequivocally opted for private, motorised transport in preference to public transport." The report actually says that "critics castigate" this policy, pointing out that "only nine per cent" of the city's commuters use private transport.
These moves have been a crucial factor in its increasing popularity within India and the promises of further improvement have boosted the Shiv Sena's campaigns.
Other
Shiv Sena was involved in violence in KathuaKathua
Kathua is the largest city of the Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir. It is the third largest city in the Jammu region and the sixth largest in the state. The word "Kathua" is derived from the word "Thuan" in Dogri which means "Scorpios". The city was the land of Scorpios before the settling of...
, Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
on 14 July 2008, as they were blocked by Central Reserve Police Force personnel from marching towards Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
city. The Sena was demonstrating against a decision by the government of Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
to not hand over land to a Hindu shrine board, as the proposal had caused some of the largest protests in Kashmir's history, and stirred resentment and fears of "demographic dilution". Shiv Sena has raised the squadron on occasion since at least 1987, when 125 activists participated in what was termed "morale boosting" activities aimed at strengthening the Hindu community in Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
during the 1980s insurgency there. The group also vowed to send this squad to Srinagar in 2004 to hoist the Indian flag at the city's main intersection, Lal Chowk. Later that year, the Shiv Sena attempted to disrupt India and Pakistan from playing cricket in Delhi and even in for 2011 world cup they warned to Pakistan team Shiv Sena claims the members are willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believe is India's rightful existence as a Hindu nation.
Attack on CNN-IBN offices
The offices of HindiHindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Marathi
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
TV news channels IBN-7
IBN-7
IBN-7 is a Hindi news television channel owned by Network 18 Ltd based in Mumbai.IBN-7 - formerly Channel 7 was acquired from Jagran TV, owned by the Dainik Jagran group of companies, in 2006 and rebranded IBN-7. IBN-7 is the Hindi news channel of IBN18 Broadcast Limited, which is part of Network...
and IBN-Lokmat
IBN-Lokmat
IBN Lokmat is a Marathi-language news channel based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is a joint venture between Network 18 and Lokmat Group, which runs the most read Marathi newspaper, Lokmat.IBN Lokmat was launched on 6 April 2008, the Gudi Padwa day...
in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
were attacked and vandalised by Shiv Sena activists on 20 November 2009. Shiv Sena attributed the attacks to the criticisms of Balasaheb Thackeray by the news channel over his remarks on Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
. Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
MP Sanjay Raut described the attacks as "spontaneous". Various Shiv Sena spokespersons have been justifying the attacks.
See also
- Aditya ThackerayAditya ThackerayAaditya Thackeray is the son of Uddhav Thackeray, Executive President of Shiv Sena, and grandson of Balasaheb Thackeray. He is currently head of Yuva Sena, a youth wing of Shiv Sena.Education:Aaditya has done his schooling from Bombay Scottish School Mahim...
- HindutvaHindutvaHindutva is the term used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism. Members of the movement are called Hindutvavādis.In India, an umbrella organization called the Sangh Parivar champions the concept of Hindutva...
- Hindu Extremism
- Hindu nationalist parties
- Marathi nationalismMarathi nationalismMarathi nationalism or regionalism refers to a nationalist stance applied to Maharashtra and the Indo-Aryan ethnic Marathi people who inhabit the ethno-linguistic region of Maharashtra, which was created after the linguistic reorganization of provinces in India in 1956. Ramdas is considered as the...
- Maharashtra Navnirman SenaMaharashtra Navnirman SenaThe Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a political party based in Maharashtra operating on the motto of "Sons of the Soil". It was founded on the March 9, 2006 in Mumbai by Raj Thackeray after he left the Shiv Sena due to differences with Uddhav Thackeray and sidelining in major decisions like...
- RSSRashtriya Swayamsevak SanghRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Organization), also known the Sangh, is a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary, volunteer, and allegedly militant organization for Hindu males in India...
- Belgaum border disputeBelgaum border disputeThe Belgaum border dispute is a dispute involving the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Belgaum, currently a part of Karnataka and earlier the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, is claimed by Maharashtra on linguistic grounds.-Background:...
- Nepal ShivsenaNepal ShivsenaNepal Shivsena is a Hindu nationalist political party in Nepal. The party was founded in 1999. It is connected to the Shiv Sena in India. Kiran Singh Budhathoki is the president of the party....
- Babri MosqueBabri MosqueThe Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...
- Asom SenaAsom SenaAsom Sena is a vigilante wing of All Assam Students Union in Assam. It was formed in Barpeta on Dec 8, 2005 with the Shiv Sena as its role model for the cause of social justice and reformation of the indigenous people of and within the state Its chief organizer is Lakshman Das and convener is...
Further reading
Books — Marathi- Bhosale, Harshad (2004): 'Mumbai Mahanagarpalika Nivadnuk' in Palshikar Suhas and Nitin Birmal (eds), Maharashtrache Rajkaran Pratima, Pune.
- Maharashtratil Sattantar, Vora Rajendra and Suhas Palshikar, Granthali, Mumbai 1996
- Bhosale, Harshad(2006),"Mumbaichya Vikasacha Arthik, Rajakiya Ani Samajik Sandarbha",in Bi monthly APLA PARAM MITRA, Sept-October 2006,year 5,issue-3.
Books — English
- 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 Sena Story, Purandare Vaibhav, Business Publications, Mumbai,(1999)
- The Charisma of Direct Action: Power, Politics, and the Shiv Sena, JM Eckert - 2003 - Oxford University Press
- Nativism in a Metropolis: The Shiv Sena in Bombay, D Gupta - 1982 – Manohar (OUP 1996)
- 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)
Articles
- The Rebirth of Shiv Sena: The Symbiosis of Discursive and Organizational Power, Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Uday Singh Mehta, Usha Thakkar, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 56, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 371–390
- Saffronisation of the Shiv Sena, J Lele — Bombay: Metaphor for Modern India, 1995
- Cultural Populism: The Appeal of the Shiv Sena, G Heuzé — Bombay: Metaphor for Modern India, 1995
- The Shiv Sena's new avatar: Marathi chauvinism and Hindu communalism, R Sardesai - Politics in Maharashtra, 1995
- The Rhetoric of Hindu Nationalism: A Narrative of Mythic Redefinition, Robert C. Rowland, Abhik Roy; Western Journal of Communication, Vol. 67, 2003
- Regenerating Masculinity in the Construction of Hindu Nationalist Identity: A Case Study of Shiv Sena, Abhik Roy, Communication Studies, Volume 57, Number 2 / June 2006,
- The Feminization of Violence in Bombay: Women in the Politics of the Shiv Sena, S Banerjee - Asian Survey, 1996
- The vernacularisation of Hindutv: The BJP and Shiv Sena in rural Maharashtra, Thomas Blom Hansen Contributions to Indian Sociology, Vol. 30, No. 2, 177-214 (1996)
- The Shiv Sena: A Movement in Search of Legitimacy R Joshi - Asian Survey, 1970
- Origins of Nativism: The Emergence of Shiv Sena in Bombay MF Katzenstein - Asian Survey, 1973
- Sardesai, Rajdeep 'Shiv Sena's New Avatar: Marathi Chauvinism and Hindu Communalism' in Usha Thakkar and Mangesh Kulkarni (eds), Politics in Maharashtra, Himalaya, Mumbai, pp 127–46 (1995)
- " City of Mongrel Joy": Bombay and the Shiv Sena in Midnight's Children and The Moor's Last Sigh, R Trousdale - JOURNAL OF COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE, 2004
articles available in net
- The Shiv Sena: An Eruption of Subnationalism, Morkhandikar R S, Economic and Political Weekly, 21 October, pp 1903–06 (1967
- Shiv Sena: A Tiger with Many Faces? S Palshikar - Economic and Political Weekly, 2004
- The Charisma of Autocracy Bal Thackeray's Dictatorship in Shiv Sena J Eckert — MANUSHI, 2002
- Shiv Sena andNational'Hinduism, G Heuze — ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY, 1992