On 12th October 2022, the Communist Party of India and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena joined hands together to contest the upcoming by-elections of the Andheri east assembly constituency. It is notable that CPI and Shiv Sena are known as the archrivals of a bygone era because there has been bloodshed in the past on various occasions between the two parties. But in the upcoming by-elections of the Andheri east seat, the two parties have come together to fight the alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. Leaders of the CPI extended their support to Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and assured him that they will support Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena in the upcoming by-election.
कम्युनिस्टांचा शिवसेनेला पाठिंबा… !भारतीय कम्युनिस्ट पक्षाने अंधेरी पूर्व मतदारसंघातील निवडणुकीसाठी शिवसेनेला पाठिंबा जाहीर केला आहे. भारतीय कम्युनिस्ट पक्षाचे नेते कॉ. प्रकाश रेड्डी यांनी उद्धव ठाकरे यांची भेट घेऊन आपला पाठिंबा व्यक्त केला आहे.#uddhavthakarey #shivsena pic.twitter.com/TL0GiuFOsp
— Maharashtra Times (@mataonline) October 12, 2022
A communist party of India delegation met Shiv Sena Thackeray faction leader Uddhav Thackeray and assured him of full support to the Shiv Sena candidate in the by-poll in Andheri. The delegation also assured Thackeray that ‘we are with you in the fight against the BJP.’ Comrade Milind Ranade, secretary of CPM, senior leader Comrade Prakash Reddy, Prakash Narvekar, Baba Sawant, trade union leaders Vijay Dalvi and Babli Rawat met Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshree at 2.30 pm on October 12. Shiv Sena leaders Anil Parab, Ravindra Waikar, Arvind Sawant, Sunil Prabhu, Ramesh Korgaonkar, and others were present on the occasion.
Although the Communist Party of India has limited strength in the Andheri East assembly constituency, the two extreme ideologies coming together, the communists supporting the Shiv Sena in the Andheri by-election is a major turning point in politics. Since the formation of the Shiv Sena, the Sena has had a very intense fight with the Communists. The two parties were considered hardcore opponents of each other.
It was due to this fight that communist leader Krishna Desai was killed in Mumbai in 1970. There was fierce competition between the two unions to pull the mill workers to their side. Balasaheb Thackeray used to refer to the Communist Party workers as red monkeys. But in the meantime, the politics changed. Uddhav Thackeray also changed his ideological positioning as he apparently quit the Hindutva ideology. Now, after joining hands with Congress and NCP, Shiv Sena is now allying with its opponent and CPI to resist the BJP.
Communist Party had a stronghold in the Lalbag and Parel area of Mumbai. Shiv Sena tried to contain this force. In the meantime, the conflict between the Shiv Sena communists flared up. Communist leader MLA Krishna Desai was assassinated on June 5, 1970. His murder created a stir in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena was suspected of his murder. Desai’s murder was followed by a direct fight between his wife Sarojini Krishna Desai and Shiv Sena’s Vanrao Mahadik in the Parel bypoll. In this election, Wamanrao Mahadik won by 1679 votes. Now, these two parties which once fought against each other are coming together to fight against BJP in the Andheri assembly constituency by-poll.
It is notable that as both factions of Shiv Sena are claiming to be the real Shiv Sena and claiming the party name and symbol, the Election Commission has frozen them, refusing them permission to use them till the Commission decides on the issue. For the bypolls, the ECI has granted new names and symbols to both factions. Uddhav Sena faction has been granted the name Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, and they were given the symbol of mashaal (flaming torch). On the other hand, the Eknath Shinde faction has been named Balasahebchi Shiv Sena and they will use the symbol of two swords and a shield symbol for the upcoming polls.
