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Both factions of Shiv Sena are celebrating 60 years of the party on Friday. However, while the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction is facing an existential crisis, the Eknath Shinde-led faction is struggling to maintain its importance in the era of BJP’s dominance. The undivided Shiv Sena, once a strong ally of the BJP for 25 years, was almost in the role of ‘big brother’ within the alliance in Maharashtra, but the power equation has changed since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014.

The alliance between the two parties broke just before the 2014 assembly elections. They got back together in less than four months, but their relationship was never the same; There was always tension between them and it seemed as if they could separate at any time. Same thing happened in the year 2019, when Shiv Sena broke ties with BJP led NDA over the post of Chief Minister. After this separation, such situations arose due to which the party got divided into two groups.

Eknath Shinde broke Shiv Sena

It is not that rebellion was a new thing for Shiv Sena. The party had already faced the rebellion of big leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Ganesh Naik, Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray, but the rebellion led by Eknath Shinde in 2022 was very big, which divided Shiv Sena into two parts. Shinde, who had come up from the lower ranks in Shiv Sena, had parted ways with 39 MLAs and 13 MPs at that time. Later, his faction also got the party name and its ‘bow-and-arrow’ election symbol.

Shiv Sainiks worked at the grassroots level

Bal Keshav Thackeray founded Shiv Sena in 1966. He is also known as Balasaheb. He was the son of Keshav Prabodhankar Thackeray, a cartoonist and social reformer who advocated the interests of the ‘Marathi Manus’, i.e. the Marathi-speaking population of Maharashtra. Bal Thackeray made Shiv Sena a strong force in Maharashtra, and especially Mumbai. Shiv Sainiks made their mark as grassroots workers who fought vigorously for the party’s issues.

Challenge for Uddhav Thackeray

In these 60 years, the undivided Shiv Sena has had three Chief Ministers. Among them are Manohar Joshi, Narayan Rane and Uddhav Thackeray. However, none of them could complete their full five-year term. After the split in the party in 2022, Eknath Shinde ran the government for two and a half years. Political analyst Hemant Desai says that both the factions, especially the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), face a much tougher challenge than during Bal Thackeray’s time.

He said, ‘Bal Thackeray’s era was not one of BJP’s dominance, but both the factions of Shiv Sena are now in the same era.’ He said that the group led by Uddhav Thackeray is facing a bigger crisis. With just 20 MLAs, the Shiv Sena (UBT) may be the largest party in the opposition camp in the Assembly, but the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has almost three times more MLAs in the House.

Huge challenge in front of Uddhav Thackeray

The undivided Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray retained control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for 25 consecutive years from 1997 to 2022. With the end of the tenure of the councilors in the year 2022, the party’s control over the municipal body also ended. After this, in the civic elections held in 2026, BJP was successful in making its mayor in BMC. Shiv Sena (UBT) currently has only one mayor in the state. In Parbhani Municipal Corporation.

Hemant Desai also said that there is a ray of hope in the crisis faced by Uddhav’s group. He can make a fresh start, although it will require a lot of effort, especially from Uddhav’s son and his successor Aaditya Thackeray.

Shinde is in power

Eknath Shinde has been in power since 2014. He was a minister first in the Devendra Fadnavis government, then in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. Later, he served as Chief Minister from 2022 to 2024 and as Deputy Chief Minister from 2024. Sanjay Kumar, professor and political analyst at Delhi-based Center for Developing Studies and Societies, said the importance of both factions of Shiv Sena should be seen in the context of regional parties, especially those parties where transfer of power can happen within the main family. Statistics show that the importance of both the groups has reduced in terms of vote share.

He said that Shiv Sena (UBT) is not only facing leadership problems but is also facing ideological crisis as BJP has snatched away its Hindutva issue. Sanjay Kumar said the Shinde-led Shiv Sena is likely to remain important for some time as the BJP still does not have an absolute majority in the state elections. He said, ‘Gradually, Shinde-led Shiv Sena is also losing its importance in Bihar like JD(U).’