Mumbai: It was during the ‘Dussehra Melava’ or Dussehra celebration organised by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), or Shiv Sena (UBT), in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park in October this year, that party deputy leader Sushma Andhare had a moment of inspiration.
She was addressing the gathering at the festival, when she suddenly pulled off the party scarf she was wearing around her neck and waved it at the crowd, encouraging the audience to do the same. The crowd responded and there was an immediate connect. There has been no looking back for Andhare since.
At a time when the Shiv Sena (UBT) has been facing charges of having moved away from founder Bal Thackeray’s ideology and his aggressive, brash style of speaking and politicking, Andhare has emerged as a verbose firebrand leader, attempting to represent the Shiv Sena (UBT) with a good dose of Sena’s traditional belligerence.
According to party sources, in recent years the tag of the party’s “firebrand leader” had been more or less reserved for Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, who was arrested in August in a money laundering case, which he had alleged to be a “conspiracy”. The leader is currently out on bail.
Andhare herself dismissed comparisons with Raut. “I am zero in front of Raut,” she said. But added: “A person goes ahead or falls behind based on his or her calibre. So my future is dependent on me alone.”
Talking about the party’s Dussehra celebration, Andhare told ThePrint that according to her, the scarf moment was what pushed her into the mainstream and brought recognition as a serious leader.
“It wasn’t planned and I didn’t know it could have this huge impact. It was a risk. It was my only chance at delivering a box office hit and I had to deliver it in a single take. But I understand mob psychology because of my background (a reference to her self-proclaimed ‘humble’ origin and association with social movements) and it worked,” said Andhare.
The leader who joined the Shiv Sena (UBT) in July this year, was also entrusted with the party’s ongoing ‘Maha Prabodhan Yatra’ (named after Balasaheb’s father Prabodhankar Thackeray) in October, to connect with farmers and youth across Maharashtra.
Born in Maharashtra’s Latur, in the Bhatkya Vimukta Jati (a part of Other Backward Class), Andhare said she has had to struggle on her way up to become a Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader. In Shiv Sena hierarchy, that’s one rank below senior leaders.
“I can be this fearless because I have nothing to lose. But if things change, the entire game will be mine and I can change things around. I am in a do-or-die situation,” she said.
The past few months of turmoil within the Sena have played a role in her rise, said political observers.
In June, Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde had led a rebellion of party MLAs to topple the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra — an alliance of the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress — and come to power in partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Andhare joined the Shiv Sena (UBT) on 28 July, when the MVA government had already fallen and the party had split. She was immediately offered a ‘deputy leader’ position and also became a spokesperson for the party. She has also come to be seen as an “asset” by party colleagues.
“After the split in Shiv Sena, it needed an aggressive face and she (Andhare) fit that. She was at the right place at the right time,” said senior political commentator Pratap Asbe.
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Andhare’s rise
Talking about Andhare’s impact, fellow Shiv Sena (UBT) member Kishori Pednekar told ThePrint that in a game of cricket, if one wants to hit a six, sometimes one has to hit the ball harder. “It is necessary in today’s times. And her style is different,” she explained.
Other party members, too, are happy with Andhare making a mark.
“I like that she is popular, especially among women and has a tit-for-tat attitude. She is quite capable as a woman leader. Whoever is coming into our party and making it strong, we welcome her,” said a second party colleague and spokesperson, Anand Dubey.
According to Andhare, she had been told to address the crowd at the Dussehra event only two hours in advance and had little time to prepare.
“I then dialed five people — a journalist, a Shiv Sainik, my old friend, another friend who is a banker, an ex MLA — and asked them what they wanted to hear. And there was my script ready,” she said.
The party’s ‘Maha Prabodhan Yatra’ under her, has been receiving similar traction, with many channels airing her public addresses.
While there has been some buzz in political circles about Andhare’s meteoric rise ruffling some feathers within the party, both Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader and her Sena colleagues dismissed such rumours.
“I have been in the party for a long long time. My loyalties have been proven. There is no need to get restless or insecure. I am upset because of such news. I know what I want to do in the party,” said Pednekar.
Clyde Crasto, spokesperson for Shiv Sena (UBT) ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), too, spoke glowingly of Andhare.
“If she crosses the line, which she hasn’t yet, it is the party and Uddhav Thackeray’s prerogative to correct her. But she is bold and aggressive and assertive and speaks the truth in some way and is more like a revolutionary,” said Crasto.
Meanwhile, Andhare told ThePrint that she herself had spoken to Uddhav after hearing rumours of her quick rise within the party upsetting her colleagues, but was told to “not get disturbed or distracted by this and continue with my work”.
Political observers, however, claimed that Andhare knew her own value and wouldn’t be accepting of a lesser position in the party.
“Andhare’s fan following is high, marginalised communities believe in her. She has her own language. She got a platform in Sena, but the qualities are hers. So if Sena gives her any lesser position, she won’t buck down. And won’t even think twice before taking a different route if she realises her importance was going down,” said Asbe.
‘Humble beginnings’
Born in 1984 as Sushma Gutte in Murud village in Maharashtra’s Latur district, Andhare said she used her grandfather’s last name and spent her growing up years with him.
After completing her post-graduation in political science from a university in Latur, the Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader said she went on to do her bachelor of education (B.Ed) from Latur’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar University and started pursuing a Ph.D. from a university in Pune, though she didn’t complete it.
An avid reader, Andhare added it was her reading of the works of P.L. Deshpande, Acharya Atre, Vasudev Balwant Phadke, Mahatma Gandhi, Mahadev Govind Ranade, B.R. Ambedkar, Karl Marx and others, which shaped her ideas.
The Sena deputy leader counts her maternal grandfather and Ambedkar as her biggest influences. She had also joined late rationalist Narendra Dabholkar’s movement against superstitions, said Andhare, and the Ambedkarite and other social movements, leaving a corporate career to align with the causes that appealed to her.
“I still run an institute in Pune where students are coached free of charge for the civil services entrance examination, but I felt that this was not enough and something more needed to be done. My friends told me that I have the guts and should join a political party or start something. That’s how ‘Ganrajya Sangh’ (an outfit started by her) was born in 2015,” said Andhare. The outfit supported the MVA in 2019 as an anti-BJP platform.
Despite her present popularity, Andhare has often also had to face criticism in her career.
She recalled how she landed herself in a controversy in 2019 when she and the Ganrajya Sangh under her campaigned for the NCP ahead of the assembly elections, despite having criticised NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and ally Uddhav Thackeray in the past. “But I never formally joined the NCP,” Andhare clarified.
According to the Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader, her respect for former Chief Minister Thackeray increased in the two years that he headed the state government, which eventually led to her joining his party.
Her private life, too, has been a matter of scrutiny. Last month, her former husband Vaijyanath Waghamare, a member of the Shinde camp, reportedly claimed that their divorce was a result of disparity in their thoughts and that she was “no firebrand leader” as is being projected by her party.
“It is easy to comment on a woman’s character, but I believe that both men and women have characters that can get equally spoiled. Critics just attack me personally, but have no answers to questions I raise,” Andhare told ThePrint.
According to Asbe, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader “has always been rebellious”.
“Her nature is quite aggressive and because of her earlier background, she has always been popular and did not become popular after joining Shiv Sena,” the political commentator added.
Her fan base and mass appeal, according to Andhare, brings with it an element of responsibility.
“That’s why sometimes I fear that by being politically correct, I may be socially incorrect and I believe that being socially correct is more important,” said the Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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