The projection of Shinde as a ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ and his party’s Maharashtra tour of all major temple towns and shrines are seen as moves to capture the erstwhile undivided Shiv Sena’s traditional right-wing vote. 

Dhaval S. Kulkarni in India Today

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, in a bid to burnish its Hindutva credentials in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election, is embarking upon a tour covering all major temple towns and shrines in the state. The Bhakti Shakti Sangam (Samvad – Ed. Hindu Existence) Yatra, launched on December 25 by the new spiritual cell of the Sena, includes interactions with religious leaders holding traditional authority and influence over the masses.

The over-two-month-long drive will be undertaken by Akshay ‘Maharaj’ Bhosale, president of the party’s Dharmaveer Adhyatmik Sena. Bhosale said the yatra will be flagged off by Shinde himself from the pilgrimage centre of Pandharpur in Solapur district. Pandharpur is famous for the temple of Lord Vithoba, a form of Lord Vishnu revered by members of the Vaishanavite ‘warkari’ sect and devotees from Maharashtra as well as neighbouring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

In this campaign, Bhosale and his associates will reach out to religious pontiffs, sadhus and devotees to understand their problems and expectations from the government. The yatra will see programmes like ‘kirtans’ (religious discourses), foot marches and corner meetings. This is in addition to the targeted participation of some 3,000 people in the daily programme.

“We have [in June 2022] taken a different political position on Hindutva. We want to explain to the people what our Hindutva is all about—it is humanity and service to human beings. We want to take the credo of our Hindutva to the people,” claimed Bhosale. The yatra also aims to publicise the Shinde government’s work to develop infrastructure and amenities in the temple towns of Maharashtra.

“From Pandharpur, the yatra will travel to temples and pilgrimage centres around the state,” said Bhosale. “It will be a district-wise yatra, covering western and northern Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha and the Konkan in that order. It will conclude in Mumbai on February 28.” He added that while the plan is to end the yatra in Shinde’s presence, it was likely to be extended by a few more days to tide over big-ticket events like the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January.

Shinde has claimed that his June 2022 split from the parent Shiv Sena, led by then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, was prompted among others reasons by the pro-Hindutva party’s decision to ally with ideologically different forces like the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Shinde and 39 Sena MLAs had walked out on Thackeray, toppling the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress and joining hands with the BJP to come to power.

With the Bhakti Shakti Sangam Yatra, Shinde is seen to be underscoring his Hindutva credentials to tap into the erstwhile undivided Shiv Sena’s traditional right-wing vote. During the Rajasthan assembly election, he was projected as a ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ in campaign posters, raised the hackles of leaders from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). The title of ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ was originally used for Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar, and later for Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray after he reinvented himself as a Hindutva mascot in the 1980s and 1990s.

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*Views are personal/ This article was first published in India Today on Dec 25, 2023.

**Courtesy: India Today & Zee 24 Taas.