Out of touch with MLAs, lacklustre in administration, how Uddhav Thackeray lost the plot | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Uddhav Thackeray has failed to gauge the uneasiness regarding the alliance with the Congress-NCP. Many felt the alliance was inimical to the Shiv Sena's own political growth, with the consequent moulding into a less-strident Hindutva seen as ceding space to the BJP.
On June 11, a day after the BJP managed to win three Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra in spite of inadequate numbers, NCP chief Sharad Pawar lauded the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, stating that the performance was largely due to the Leader of Opposition’s ability to “win over people”.
Many saw Pawar’s statement as a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who has over the past 30 months of his tenure come to be seen as aloof and unapproachable, to both his Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi allies as well as own party MLAs.
This aloofness coupled with Thackeray’s propensity to communicate with his partymen and allies through a select coterie deemed to be part of his kitchen cabinet sowed the first seeds of discord in the party, which erupted on Tuesday morning into a full-scale rebellion. So blind was Thackeray to this that earlier this year he had entrusted Shinde himself to address these concerns of MLAs.
Thackeray took over as CM in 2019 without any experience in the administration or of contesting elections, having spent years in the shadow of his father Bal Thackeray.
The Covid pandemic and a spine surgery followed soon after, confining Thackeray to his home Matoshree. The recuperating CM could attend the Secretariat only after a five-month hiatus, lasting from November 2021 to April 2022. This left many Sena leaders frustrated over their inability to meet the CM, and over being forced to go through intermediaries such as Milind Narvekar or Anil Parab.
Rating: 5