The Shiv Sena (UBT) has made a strong pitch against dynasty politics in Sindhudurg, the home turf of BJP MP Narayan Rane, to target his sons Nilesh and Nitesh, who are fighting the assembly polls from two constituencies in the coastal district.
Once a stronghold of undivided Shiv Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is seeking to regain its control over the south Konkan region after two of its MLAs and ministers Deepak Kesarkar and Uday Samant aligned with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during his rebellion in 2022. The Sena (UBT) also lost the Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri seat in the Lok Sabha polls to Narayan Rane.
Sindhudurg district adjoining Goa and Karnataka has three assembly seats - Sawantwadi, Kudal and Kankavli. Nitesh is contesting as a Shiv Sena candidate from Kudal, while Nitesh is a BJP nominee from neighbouring Kankavli.
Addressing a rally in Malvan on Wednesday, Thackeray said that although Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about dynasty politics, his party has indulged in the same thing in Konkan.
"Do you think Konkan will allow the father (Narayan Rane) to sit on its head and his two sons (Nilesh and Nitesh) on shoulders? Isn't this dynasty politics? You don't want the dynasty politics of Shiv Sena or Shiv Sena pramukh (Bal Thackeray). I am taking forward the legacy of my family," he said.
He added that the BJP will admit "traitors" in their party but has problems with dynasty politics when it comes to Bal Thackeray's son, Uddhav said.
Malvan is part of the Kudal assembly seat. He repeated the same attack in Kankavli, recalling the political violence in Konkan and seeking it with Rane. The significant part of the political violence was also during the time when Rane was part of the undivided Shiv Sena.
Vaibhav Naik, the Sena (UBT) candidate from Kudal, said the party is focusing on the issue of dynasty politics in Sindhudurg.
"Here, we have Narayan Rane as the MP and his two sons as candidates. We are telling people about dynasty politics in Sindhudurg," Naik told PTI.
Son of Bal Thackeray, Uddhav himself is accused of being part of dynastic politics. His son Aaditya Thackeray is an MLA and a former minister, while his party has fielded his nephew Varun Sardesai from Bandra East constituency.
On the other hand, Rane is a former CM and an arch rival of Uddhav. His elder son Nilesh was a Lok Sabha member from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg from 2009 to 2014. He, however, lost polls in 2014 and 2019. His younger son Nitesh is an MLA from Kankavli and has represented the seat as a Congress MLA in 2014 and BJP in 2019.
Hitting back, Nilesh said what right does Uddhav have to talk about dynasty politics. Had anyone known him if he had just been Uddhav. He became CM because he was Bal Thackeray's son.
"This is the biggest joke of 2024. Uddhav Thackeray's son is his only identity," Nilesh told PTI.
He said that in 288 seats, there are hardly 30-33 seats where the kin of politicians are contesting.
"We don't take this for granted. I myself lost (the Lok Sabha polls) twice. But we go amongst people and work," Nilesh added.
The politics in Sindhudurg district has been revolving around Rane over the last three and half decades with the former chief minister having control over economic levers of the district. The contest here has a layer of Uddhav and Rane's bitter rivalry. Rane blames Uddhav for his exit from the undivided Shiv Sena in 2005 and won the bypoll from the then Malvan constituency as a Congress candidate.
Rane later quit the Congress and formed his own outfit Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha, which he later merged with the BJP. In 2018, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BJP MP.
In 2014, Rane had received a setback as he lost the Kudal seat. In 2014 and 2019 his elder son Nilesh and former MP lost the Lok Sabha polls from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat.
"Since 2014, when Rane saheb lost this seat, the only thought that has been in mind was to win this seat again which he represented. We have been working on this seat since the last ten years," Nilesh said.
In the Lok Sabha polls, senior Rane trounced Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Vinayak Raut, a defeat Uddhav has said on several occasions hurt him as Konkan is known to be the "bastion" of the party founded by his father.
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