Bal Thackeray political legacy: Who will inherit

Bal Thackeray's demise at a juncture when the shiv Sena is already split between two formation, leaves wide open the question of who will inherit his legacy ultimately.

While his son  Uddhav Thackeray applies a corporate style working to manage the party affairs, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray  has an aggressive approach and a style akin to that of Bal Thackeray's .

Both Uddhav and Raj hold ambitions of becoming  the chief minister of maharashtra while Uddhav is the  official Inheritor of the leagcy of  Bal thackeray ,Raj has already  formed MNS whaen he walked out of his parental organisation.

Sena’s aggressive brand of regional politics is more reflected in the Raj Thackeray's  Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activities. He carries forward the issue of increasing migration, poor civic amenities and lack of jobs for local people.

Where as  Uddhav Thackeray has to drastically change his style of governing from being a CEO to a politician as he is heading a political party and moreover he needs to have a  direct communication with the Shiv sainiks, like  Bal Thackeray  as this quality is of utmost importance for making  Shiv Sena-a  stronger force in Maharastra  .

Will the Shiv Sena be still a force to reckon with following the death of Balasaheb Thackeray? 

Raj, son of Thackeray's younger brother Shrikant was seen as his political heir before  he walked out of Shiv Sena. He headed the Sena's student's wing, the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena .

Although the MNS is a break-away group from the Shiv Sena, the party is still based on Marathi and Bhumiputra ideologies ie 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 .
 

The reason given by him for breaking away from the Shiv Sena was that the latter was "run by petty clerks" because of which it had "fallen from its former glory".


In his last address to his followers through a video recorded message, Thackeray appealed them to `take care' of Uddhav-an indication that he would be his official heir. But, will the party workers follow his word now?
 

The big question doing rounds - is there any  possibility of a patch-up between Raj and Uddhav Thackeray .

Balasaheb 's demise saw both cousins together  as Raj was almost camping at Matoshree.Again when Uddhav underwent  surgery , Raj  went to meet him.

It is not easy to dismantle a political party so  there are two options open befroe them. First is that of merger of the two, which unfortunately has little chance of happening. Second , they support each other as allies (forming a coalition ).

The  Shiv Sena  which was the first party to champion the cause of ‘Marathi Manoos’ has now been taken by  Raj Thackeray`s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)  and recently  in August he  displayed a massive show of strength at a protest rally in Mumbai in respinse  to the incidents  of Kokrajhar,Assam.

Shiv Sena earlier drew its strength from Marathi migrants from the Konkan, who formed the party’s base.

The speculations are rife  that the  cousins  might come together only after the Lok Sabha polls  2014 depending on the  numbers they garner. Also,  2014 elections  will be the first polls  Hindutva leader  Balasaheb Thackeray .