Friends, for so many decades, Shiv Sena (founded by Balasaheb Thackeray) has played a major role in Maharashtra politics. But after Balasaheb’s death, his son Uddhav Thackeray has not been able to handle the party. For decades, Shiv Sena & BJP used to have an alliance in Maharashtra, and they shared power when they formed the government after the 2014 State Assembly elections. But after the 2019 State elections, where Shiv Sena got less than half the seats won by BJP, they started demanding the CM’s post, and on that issue Uddhav Thackeray ditched BJP and aligned with Congress and NCP, and became CM of Maharashtra.. The grassroots Shiv Sainiks, who adored Bala Saheb and his Hindutva policies and anti-Congress stand, found it difficult to digest this alliance. The result was that Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde engineered a revolt and more than 2/3rd MLAs backed him . Uddhav Thackeray-led government fell, and Eknath Shinde joined hands with the BJP and became CM.
This split in the Shiv Sena party became a turning point for the political career of Uddhav Thackeray.
Subsequently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) allotted both the party name and symbol to the Shinde faction. The Uddhav Thackeray faction was allotted the name OF Shiv Sena (UBT). After this, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Uddhav Thackeray could never regain the trust of Sainiks.
What Ails Shiv Sena (UBT)
1 Organisational Weakness: The split exposed weaknesses in the party’s internal structure. Shiv Sena traditionally revolved around the Thackeray family’s leadership rather than institutional mechanisms. Many elected representatives, district leaders, and local functionaries joined the Shinde camp, forcing UBT to rebuild its organisation from the grassroots. Rebuilding a statewide network is not an easy task for any party.
2 Leadership Challenges: Uddhav Thackeray enjoys goodwill among many party workers and supporters, but critics argue that he has struggled to maintain the aggressive style associated with Bala Saheb. The emergence of Aaditya Thackeray has brought youthful energy, but some observers believe the party still depends heavily on the Thackeray family and lacks a broader second line of leadership.
3 Ideological Dilemma: Perhaps the most debated issue is the party’s ideological positioning. For decades, Shiv Sena was identified with aggressive Hindutva and Marathi regional pride. However, after joining hands with Congress and NCP in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in 2019, critics accused Uddhav Thackeray for diluting the party’s traditional ideology. This shift created confusion among traditional supporters.
4 Competition from Multiple Fronts: Shiv Sena (UBT) now faces competition from several directions-
- The Shinde-led Shiv Sena competes for the original Sena vote bank.
- The BJP has expanded aggressively in Maharashtra.
- Regional parties continue to influence local politics.
- Internal divisions have affected cadre morale.
The multi-cornered competition makes electoral recovery more difficult.
5 Legal and Political Battles: The party has been engaged in prolonged legal and constitutional battles concerning defections, legislative disqualifications, and party recognition. These disputes have consumed considerable political attention and organisational energy.
Recently, some more issues have cropped up for Shiv Sena (UBT):
- In a major blow, six of the party’s nine Lok Sabha MPs rebelled and aligned with the ruling Shinde-led Shiv Sena. This drastic reduction threatens the party’s office allocation and status in the Parliament.
- Potential Legislative Assembly Splits- The party is battling a wave of instability in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, with ongoing rumours and sources suggesting that 14 60 16 MLAs are preparing to jump ship.
- Trust and Cohesion issues- The constant threat of crossovers and defections has sparked internal turmoil. Uddhav Thackeray recently offered to step down from the party presidency due to betrayals.
In the end, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s challenges stem from organisational disruption following 2022 split, competition for its traditional base, leadership and ideological questions. The main question still is: the party has ditched the ideology of Bala Saheb, which was the founding principle of the party. How is Uddhav Thackeray going to come out of that and build a new party with a different ideology? The bitter truth for him is that the BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena have bagged the traditional Hindutva ideology voters; now, for Uddhav, his pseudo-Hindutva appeal may not work with voters. It seems very difficult for him to revive the party unless he breaks out of the Congress/NCP alliance.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
30th June 2026