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| Aditya Thackeray: 24-year-old scion of India’s controversial political dynasty | Aditya Thackeray: 24-year-old scion of India’s controversial political dynasty |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| He reads histories of the British monarchy, enjoys poetry and cricket, looks forward to family holidays overseas and to, one day, taking decisions that can change millions of lives. Meet Aditya Thackeray, 24-year-old scion of India’s most controversial political dynasty. | He reads histories of the British monarchy, enjoys poetry and cricket, looks forward to family holidays overseas and to, one day, taking decisions that can change millions of lives. Meet Aditya Thackeray, 24-year-old scion of India’s most controversial political dynasty. |
| Few outside the world’s biggest democracy have heard of the Thackerays, who have dominated street politics in Mumbai, India’s commercial centre, for decades. | Few outside the world’s biggest democracy have heard of the Thackerays, who have dominated street politics in Mumbai, India’s commercial centre, for decades. |
| But in their hometown, they are ubiquitous, acclaimed by some as saviours, feared and reviled by others. | But in their hometown, they are ubiquitous, acclaimed by some as saviours, feared and reviled by others. |
| The portrait of the family patriarch, Bal Thackeray, a cartoonist turned rightwing populist politician who founded the Shiv Sena organisation in 1966 and led it until his death two years ago, is everywhere: hung in offices in slums, on the walls of cheap restaurants, beside temples. Images of the patriarch’s successor – his 54-year-old son Uddhav – and grandson Aditya, who heads a youth wing – are alongside. The trio look down on the teeming metropolis of 20 million-plus. | The portrait of the family patriarch, Bal Thackeray, a cartoonist turned rightwing populist politician who founded the Shiv Sena organisation in 1966 and led it until his death two years ago, is everywhere: hung in offices in slums, on the walls of cheap restaurants, beside temples. Images of the patriarch’s successor – his 54-year-old son Uddhav – and grandson Aditya, who heads a youth wing – are alongside. The trio look down on the teeming metropolis of 20 million-plus. |
| But after three decades of dominance of municipal politics, the Shiv Sena is, like so much in India, in transition. | But after three decades of dominance of municipal politics, the Shiv Sena is, like so much in India, in transition. |
| “These are changing times. My grandfather’s generations, my father’s generation, my generation, all have different needs. We are keeping our core values the same … but with times priorities change,” Aditya Thackeray told the Guardian. | |
| In state elections earlier this month, the Shiv Sena – the name means “warriors of Shivaji” (a former ruler of the region) – lost ground to the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which won power at a national level with a landslide victory in May. Analysts say the BJP, which also follows a rightwing Hindu nationalist ideology, has cut deep into Shiv Sena’s core support with its promise of economic development and opportunity. The charismatic prime minister, Narendra Modi, has countered the Thackerays’ own personal appeal while nearly three decades of Shiv Sena control of Mumbai’s town hall has disappointed many in the city. | In state elections earlier this month, the Shiv Sena – the name means “warriors of Shivaji” (a former ruler of the region) – lost ground to the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which won power at a national level with a landslide victory in May. Analysts say the BJP, which also follows a rightwing Hindu nationalist ideology, has cut deep into Shiv Sena’s core support with its promise of economic development and opportunity. The charismatic prime minister, Narendra Modi, has countered the Thackerays’ own personal appeal while nearly three decades of Shiv Sena control of Mumbai’s town hall has disappointed many in the city. |
| Nor is Shiv Sena’s traditional appeal to Mumbai natives who speak the local language enough to guarantee power. Fewer than a third of Mumbaikars now speak Marathi, official figures show. The true total could be lower. Over the years, Shiv Sena has been repeatedly accused of fomenting violence, using street power to intimidate opponents and, during one period, imposing conservative moral codes. This plays badly in today’s India. | Nor is Shiv Sena’s traditional appeal to Mumbai natives who speak the local language enough to guarantee power. Fewer than a third of Mumbaikars now speak Marathi, official figures show. The true total could be lower. Over the years, Shiv Sena has been repeatedly accused of fomenting violence, using street power to intimidate opponents and, during one period, imposing conservative moral codes. This plays badly in today’s India. |
| “No one wants trouble on the streets of Mumbai anymore. India has moved on a lot,” said Smruti Koppikar, an analyst and editor with the Hindustan Times. | “No one wants trouble on the streets of Mumbai anymore. India has moved on a lot,” said Smruti Koppikar, an analyst and editor with the Hindustan Times. |
| Aditya Thackeray says Shiv Sena’s reputation for thuggishness and chauvinism is misplaced, blaming the media for “confusion”. | Aditya Thackeray says Shiv Sena’s reputation for thuggishness and chauvinism is misplaced, blaming the media for “confusion”. |
| “This is not an operation ‘change the face’ because we are very pleased with what we have achieved up to now. We are not speaking against any community as such, we are accepting everyone. If you ask anyone, they will tell you the Thackerays love Mumbai,” he said. | “This is not an operation ‘change the face’ because we are very pleased with what we have achieved up to now. We are not speaking against any community as such, we are accepting everyone. If you ask anyone, they will tell you the Thackerays love Mumbai,” he said. |
| Four years ago, Thackeray led students at Mumbai University in a movement to remove from the syllabus a book by Rohinton Mistry, the prize-winning Indian author now living in Canada. The work, Such a Long Journey, was insulting to people from Maharashtra, the state of which Mumbai is the capital, they said. | Four years ago, Thackeray led students at Mumbai University in a movement to remove from the syllabus a book by Rohinton Mistry, the prize-winning Indian author now living in Canada. The work, Such a Long Journey, was insulting to people from Maharashtra, the state of which Mumbai is the capital, they said. |
| Mistry issued a statement decrying the “sorry spectacle of book-burning and book-banning” and asking if one should feel “pity, disappointment, compassion” towards the instigator of the campaign. | Mistry issued a statement decrying the “sorry spectacle of book-burning and book-banning” and asking if one should feel “pity, disappointment, compassion” towards the instigator of the campaign. |
| “Twenty years old, the beneficiary of a good education, he is about to embark down the Sena’s well-trodden path, to appeal, like those before him, to all that is worst in human nature,” the author said. | “Twenty years old, the beneficiary of a good education, he is about to embark down the Sena’s well-trodden path, to appeal, like those before him, to all that is worst in human nature,” the author said. |
| Thackeray told the Guardian that though he opposed banning books and had no objections to the work being sold, Mistry’s work should not have been “enforced” by university authorities. | Thackeray told the Guardian that though he opposed banning books and had no objections to the work being sold, Mistry’s work should not have been “enforced” by university authorities. |
| “Only some communities’ sentiments are being heard, why not others?,” he said. | “Only some communities’ sentiments are being heard, why not others?,” he said. |
| As Shiv Sena looks to update its image, such campaigns are likely to be rarer. Thackeray says the Shiv Sena is working to train thousands of young people for jobs in sectors such as banking and in languages. Grassroots organisation remains strong despite the recent inroads made by the BJP. There is also an effort to forget the “moral policing” of the past, when Shiv Sena activists harassed couples in parks. Thackeray talks of plans to open entertainment venues such as restaurants, theatres and malls through the night. | As Shiv Sena looks to update its image, such campaigns are likely to be rarer. Thackeray says the Shiv Sena is working to train thousands of young people for jobs in sectors such as banking and in languages. Grassroots organisation remains strong despite the recent inroads made by the BJP. There is also an effort to forget the “moral policing” of the past, when Shiv Sena activists harassed couples in parks. Thackeray talks of plans to open entertainment venues such as restaurants, theatres and malls through the night. |
| “I’m not a party boy, but Mumbai is a busy city and you need time to chill and that is only after work, and where do you go?,” he asked. | “I’m not a party boy, but Mumbai is a busy city and you need time to chill and that is only after work, and where do you go?,” he asked. |
| It is unclear whether the new tactics amount to a new strategic direction for the party, or are merely a continuation of decades of pragmatic responses to circumstance. It is equally unclear whether the crucial youth vote will swing Shiv Sena’s way, despite Aditya Thackeray’s youth and his tours of small towns. More than half of Indians are under 24, with increasingly wide horizons and far-reaching aspirations. | It is unclear whether the new tactics amount to a new strategic direction for the party, or are merely a continuation of decades of pragmatic responses to circumstance. It is equally unclear whether the crucial youth vote will swing Shiv Sena’s way, despite Aditya Thackeray’s youth and his tours of small towns. More than half of Indians are under 24, with increasingly wide horizons and far-reaching aspirations. |
| “Young people, whatever their origins, see a place for themselves in Modi’s India, but not in Thackeray’s Maharashtra,” said Koppikar, the journalist. | “Young people, whatever their origins, see a place for themselves in Modi’s India, but not in Thackeray’s Maharashtra,” said Koppikar, the journalist. |
| Finally, there is the question of the role political dynasties play in south Asia where the idea that power can be inherited is increasingly challenged. | Finally, there is the question of the role political dynasties play in south Asia where the idea that power can be inherited is increasingly challenged. |
| “I have always loved politics. I could be blamed for being my father’s son but the point is if the guy is really working hard and really wants to do it,” Thackeray said, speaking to the Guardian in the famous and heavily guarded family residence of Matoshree in the central neighbourhood of Bandra. | |
| “Finally we all have to face the people. Either the people accept you or reject you.” | “Finally we all have to face the people. Either the people accept you or reject you.” |