Eye on BMC polls, Shinde Sena ties up with Republican Sena in Dalit outreach

Indian Express

17-07-2025

Grappling with various challenges from within and outside the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde has joined hands with the Republican Sena led by Anandraj Ambedkar, grandson of B R Ambedkar, ahead of the state's local body elections slated later this year.
Both Shinde and Anandraj together made this announcement at a press conference in Mumbai Wednesday.
The Shinde Sena seems to have forged this alliance with a view to boosting its prospects in the upcoming local body elections, especially the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.
It indicated Shinde's bid to expand the Sena's support base beyond Marathis to include Dalits. Republican Sena is known for having a base among Dalits and the poor and downtrodden, especially in pockets of Mumbai and some places in the Vidarbha region.
The tie-up has come amid growing buzz of an alliance between Shinde's arch rival and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray as part of their attempts to consolidate the Marathi votes for the local body polls. The Uddhav-led Sena had earlier dominated the BMC.
Besides this formidable challenge, Shinde is facing a friction in his relations with the state BJP leadership over power sharing, even as the Shiv Sena is also reeling from various rows involving some of his MLAs and ministers.
While addressing the press conference along with Anandraj, Shinde said, 'I have always upheld my identity as someone who is dedicated to common man. The alliance with Anandraj Ambedkar is a step forward to reach out and accommodate those segments who are poor, needy and backward.'
Noting that the strength of any organisation is dependent on its workers, Shinde said the leaders should always stand by their workers during crises. He said common people also expect their leaders to give them a helping hand in times of hardship.
On his part, Anandraj said their ideological differences would not come in the way of their tie-up. 'Both Shiv Sena and Republican Sena follow Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution. There are no ideological differences as we are both committed to welfare of the poor, oppressed and backward,' he said. When Shinde was the CM during the previous Mahayuti regime, he had hosted several Buddhist monks and their followers at his then official residence 'Varsha', Anandraj said.
'Today, we pledge unconditional support to Shiv Sena. All we expect is our workers' concerns should be accommodated and that they get a participatory role in the local bodies polls,' he said.
Who is Anandraj Ambedkar?
Anandraj is the younger brother of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar. They had earlier been part of the Republican Party of India (RPI).
In 1998, Anandraj founded the Republican Sena. Although based on Ambedkar's philosophy like other RPI factions, the Republican Sena has a limited presence in the state. In contrast, Prakash Ambedkar has been rooted in state politics for several decades, and has a wider acceptance and larger socio-political network across Maharashtra.
Anandraj was in the limelight in 2011 when he led a protest and occupied the Indu Mill land at Dadar in Mumbai. They were protesting against the government's failure to implement its proposal to set up a B R Ambedkar memorial complex with his statue there.
Anandraj also made headlines in 2012 when he started an agitation seeking the removal of encroachments from the Buddhist caves and monuments in different parts of Maharashtra.
B R Ambedkar along with lakhs of his followers had converted to Buddhism at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur in 1956. By launching a stir over the Buddhist monuments, Anandraj had sought to connect with a larger section of Dalits and Ambedkarites.
Over the last five decades, the RPI has been split into various breakaway outfits, which include the RPI (A) led by Union minister Ramdas Athawale, the RPI (Kawade) and the RPI (Gawai), among others.
The alliance between the Shiv Sena and the Republican Sena is not likely to make any significant electoral impact in the state, with the move seen in political circles as a Shinde bid to mobilise smaller outfits to strengthen his own party.
The RPI (A) is part of the BJP-led NDA in the state and at the Centre. It is said to have the support of a significant percentage of Dalit voters. The Athawale-led party had allied with the then undivided Sena led by late Bal Thackeray in the 1990s, which was dubbed an 'alliance of Shiv Shakti and Bhim Shakti'.
This pitch was again made in November 2022, when Sena UBT chief Uddhav, son of Bal Thackeray, joined hands with Prakash Ambedkar. They asserted that they came together to save the Constitution and democracy, which had been facing a 'threat', they alleged, from the BJP dispensation. Both even recalled how their grandfathers had unitedly fought against various social evils including caste discrimination. In the 1950s, two political stalwarts, B R Ambedkar and Prabodhankar Thackeray, Bal Thackeray's father, had come together to fight against untouchability, dowry and casteism.
A key constituent of the Opposition Maha Vikash Aghadi (MVA), Uddhav's alliance with Prakash Ambedkar however fell through ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The VBA contested in these polls alone, failing to open its account.