Sena Son Rise: Scion Aditya Thackeray looking to give party a makeover
A law graduate, the 26-year-old Aditya has come a long way from his rabble-rouser beginnings in the Yuva Sena.
An 11 km stretch along the main road between Marine Lines and Worli reserved exclusively for cyclists and walkers on Sunday mornings! Sounds fantastic? Happens to be true. Mumbai's first cycle track, which opened on the morning of December 3, is part of how Shiv Sena scion Aditya Thackeray is trying to reinvent the party as a modern political entity.
A law graduate, the 26-year-old Aditya has come a long way from his rabble-rouser beginnings in the Yuva Sena, the party's youth wing. Today, it's the cosmopolitan aspirations of the city's youth he is tuning into. Also, why he has pushed the party-controlled BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) into permitting rooftop parties and all-night eateries in areas where these were restricted.
Of course, the BJP-led Devendra Fadnavis government-of which the Sena is a part-is unhappy with the changes in the 'nightlife' norms and has raised the law and order bogey. But Aditya defends the move, saying it will open up the city, increase state revenues and make Mumbai more "tourist friendly". (It's still confusing for the Sena cadre, seeing as it clashes with the party's stand on 'cultural values'.)
Meanwhile, the young leader has tried to keep the focus on sectors like education, environment and social work, areas where he can directly engage the youth. Like when he took on education minister Vinod Tawde over the bungling in Mumbai University of the online assessment of students' answer sheets. More recently, Aditya prevailed on transport minister Diwakar Raote to introduce electric buses in south Mumbai, and on environment minister Ramdas Kadam to enforce a complete ban on plastic from April 2018. Also, in contrast to the Sena's earlier bullying tactics, he appealed to city restaurants to refrain from using plastic. Coercion, he says reasonably, will not work, "it must be voluntary".
Aware that he has to keep the Sena's core vote bank interested, Aditya has rolled out a number of popular initiatives-BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport) buses offer free rides to students in uniform and a new party portal, www.topscorer.com, carries syllabuses in audio-visual format for Marathi students.
Like all eager initiates, Aditya's political yatra has also seen a few bumps-the sizeable expense (Rs 45 lakh apiece) at his bidding to import six penguins to the city zoo and the Yuva Sena's demonstrations against radio jockey Malishka for bringing attention to Mumbai's potholed roads provoked much outrage. But, on the other hand, Aditya reportedly arranged the rendezvous between father and Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on October 30, fuelling speculation that the Sena could join a common front against the BJP. The grapevine also suggests a move to Delhi is on the cards. Sena insiders say Aditya could be the party nominee for the Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha seat in 2019.