Shiv Sena

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Shiv Sena
Leader Balasaheb Thackeray
Founded June 19, 1966
Headquarters Sena Bhavan, Mumbai
Newspaper Saamna
Ideology Bhumiputr
Hindutva
Conservatism
Social conservatism
Political position Right-wing
Alliance National Democratic Alliance
Seats in Lok Sabha
11 / 545
Seats in Rajya Sabha
4 / 250
Website
www.shivsena.org
Politics of India
Political parties
Elections

Shiv Sena (Marathi: शिव सेना Śiv Senā, meaning Army of Shiv, referring to Shivaji, also SHS), is a right-wing organization 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[citation needed] 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.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

[edit] 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 Thackeray.

The recently refurbished Sena Bhavan located in the Dadar locality in Mumbai has served as the headquarters of the Sena since 1976.[1] 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.[2]

Aditya Thackeray son of Shivsena Karyapramukh Uddhav Thackeray working as Youth Leader.

[edit] Electoral performance

e • d 
Election Candidates Elected Votes Source
1971 Parliament 5 227,468 [3]
1980 Parliament 2 129,351 [4]
1989 Parliament 3 1 339,426 [5]
1989 Goa Assembly 6   4,960 [6]
1991 Parliament 22 4 2,208,712 [7]
1993 Madhya Pradesh Assembly 88 75,783 [8]
1996 Parliament 132 15 4,989,994 [9]
1996 Haryana Assembly 17 6,700 [10]
1997 Punjab Assembly 3 719 [11]
1998 Parliament 79 6 6,528,566 [12]
1998 Delhi Assembly 32 9,395 [13]
1998 Himachal Pradesh Assembly 6 2,827 [14]
1999 Parliament 63 15 5,672,412 [15]
1999 Goa Assembly 14   5,987 [16]
2000 Orisa Assembly 16   18,794 [17]
2001 Kerala Assembly 1   279 [18]
2002 Goa Assembly 15   [19]
2004 Parliament 56 12 7,056,255 [20]
2009 Parliament 22 11 6,828,382 [21]

[edit] Recent electoral victories

The Shiv Sena achieved electoral victories in local Maharashtra elections in February 2007, together with their partner the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and are set for another five year term.[22] 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.[23]

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.[22][23]

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.

[edit] Work

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[edit] Claims of benefits to Maharashtrians

Supporters of the Sena have claimed that the party has benefited the Marathi Manus (Marathi man) in Mumbai,[24] especially in the public sector.[25]

[edit] Dharavi emancipation

The Sena claims to have played a central role in the emancipation of 500,000 slum dwellers in the Dharavi area of Mumbai, the largest slum in Asia.[26] 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.[27][28]

[edit] Improvements in infrastructure

In addition, the Sena has been active in trying to improve infrastructure in Maharashtra, 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.[29]

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.

[edit] Other

Shiv Sena was involved in violence in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir on 14 July 2008, as they were blocked by Central Reserve Police Force personnel from marching towards Jammu city.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32] 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[33] Shiv Sena claims the members are willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believe is India's rightful existence as a Hindu nation.[30]

[edit] Political incidents

[edit] Attack on CNN-IBN offices

The offices of Hindi 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.[34] 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.[35][36]

[edit] See also

[edit] 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

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Thackeray inaugurates new Sena bhavan". NDTV news. http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Thackeray+inaugurates+new+Sena+bhavan&id=90718. Retrieved 2006-07-29. 
  2. ^ "Know Your Party: Shiv Sena". Rediff.com. http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/23espec3.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-22. 
  3. ^ [1][dead link]
  4. ^ TitlePage-VolI_LS99.PDF
  5. ^ TitlePage-VolI_LS99.PDF
  6. ^ List Of Political Parties
  7. ^ [2][dead link]
  8. ^ rptDetailedResults
  9. ^ [3][dead link]
  10. ^ TitlePage_HR-96.PDF
  11. ^ TitlePage_PU-96.PDF
  12. ^ [4][dead link]
  13. ^ rptProgrammeOFElections
  14. ^ rptProgrammeOFElections
  15. ^ [5][dead link]
  16. ^ TitlePageGA99.PDF
  17. ^ TitlePage_OR_LA_2000.PDF
  18. ^ http://archive.eci.gov.in/SE2001/pollupd/ac/candlwc/s11/s11shsacnst.htm
  19. ^ []
  20. ^ [6][dead link]
  21. ^ [7][dead link]
  22. ^ a b http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=BMCpolls&id=100333&callid=1
  23. ^ a b NULL. "Shiv Sena victory hits opponents hard". Moneycontrol.com. http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/currentaffairs/rajthackeraynarayanranes/shivsenavictory/market/stocks/article/265340. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
  24. ^ "On the wrong track". The Hindu. http://www.hinduonnet.com/2003/11/24/stories/2003112400851000.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-11. 
  25. ^ "Sena fate: From roar to meow". The Times of India. 29 November 2005. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1311115,prtpage-1.cms. Retrieved 2006-08-11. 
  26. ^ p Rediff News.
  27. ^ 'Highrises don't suit Dharavi slum dwellers'
  28. ^ Dharavi slum will be economic hub: Joshi
  29. ^ Driving to nowhere
  30. ^ a b "Shiv Sena activists go on rampage, lathi-charged". http://www.kashmirtimes.com. http://www.kashmirtimes.com. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  31. ^ "Links". Hindu Unity. http://www.hinduunity.com/articles/bharathistory/nationalintegration1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
  32. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Punjab". Tribuneindia.com. 2003-10-06. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031006/punjab1.htm#18. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
  33. ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2005041518520300.htm&date=2005/04/15/&prd=th&
  34. ^ In the name of their Boss, Sena goons attack IBN TV channels http://www.indianexpress.com/news/time-for-cnn-ibn-to-introspect/544428/
  35. ^ If you target us, we will attack: Shiv Sena leader http://ibnlive.in.com/news/if-you-target-us-we-will-attack-shiv-sena-leader/105645-3.html
  36. ^ SHIV SENA ATTACKS IBN OFFICES, GLOATS http://ibnlive.in.com/news/shiv-sena-attacks-ibn-offices-in-mumbai-pune/105636-3.html

[edit] External links

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