Take to the streets, Thackeray tells Sainiks

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, APRIL 25. The Shiv Sena has virtually asked its cadre to fend for itself in case of attacks against it.

The party supremo, Mr.Bal Thackeray, has exhorted the Sainiks to take the issue to the streets even while publicly acknowledging that his men were restless and angry at the murder of some middle-level leaders recently. Mr. Thackeray's view is that a contract has been put out on his men.

However, this has not roused the cadre into action yet and an insider told The Hindu, ``the kind of men in the party who are known for being feisty and aggressive have been sidelined consistently over a period of time'' and the morale of the cadre is somewhat flagging. In fact, when the former Chief Minister, Mr. Narayan Rane, who is now the Leader of the Opposition, suggested that a bandh be called by the party to coincide with its campaign to disrupt the functioning of the Maharashtra Legislature last month, he was advised against such a move by some legislators themselves. He was told ``the Sena has lost its teeth.''

This is not something that the Sena leaders at the top - Mr. Thackeray and his son, Udhav - would find easy to buy. Mr. Udhav has already spoken in a combative tone of how the Sena would ``retaliate'' and seek revenge. Mr. Thackeray says that his men would not be mute spectators when they are targeted by assassins in the city. But the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal asks : ``why is it that the Sena men are in trouble and not the BJP men?'' Perhaps, an answer to that may reveal the truth that the Sena tends to cross the line between law and illegality often, making them targets of other illegal guns.

However, it is clear that Mr. Thackaray, who held a closed door meeting with his party functionaries in the city, is keen on getting the Sena back on its feet after it lost much of its steam when it assumed power in 1995 and then more of it when the party was unseated last year. Despite trying in vain to engineer defections from other parties and recapture power, the Sena is not reconciled to be in the Opposition. It would appear that it sees a greater role and need to get back to the streets.

It seems Mr. Thackeray has begun to lose much of his touch and if last night's meeting is an indication, it is a bid to regain it. His assertion that Sena men are being killed on the streets because ``the Godfather who assigns these contracts is in Mantralaya'' -- an apparent reference to his bete noir and the Deputy Chief Minister in charge of the Home portfolio, Mr Chhagan Bhujbal and that they should not expect or depend on the Government to provide security is a fair bid to juxtapose itself in a hostile stance vis-a-vis the Government.

On the other hand, the Government and the police are dismissive of any suggestion that there is a move to eliminate the Sena men. In fact, if Mr. Bhujbal says it is not possible to give a blanket security cover to all Sainiks, he is equally clear that if they perceive a threat to any individual, the police would take a decision.

Five held

UNI adds:

The crime Branch of the Mumbai police has nabbed five gangsters of the Chotta Shakeel gang in connection with the murder of a former Shiv Sena Pramukh and his associate, according to joint commissioner of police (crime) D Shivanandan.

The arrest of these gangsters comes barely a few hours after the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Chhagan bhujbal, who also holds the Home portfolio, directed the police officers to nab the culprits behind the murder immediately. The two Shiv Sena activists, Baban Mahadev Surve and Shivkumar Rajkumar Bajaj, were gunned down on April 21 in the western suburbs here.

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