The Cousins Thackeray: Uddhav, Raj and the Shadow of their Senas

by Dhaval Kulkarni

They are first cousins twice over, but have had widely divergent political trajectories. One, an abrasive, fire-breathing demagogue, was seen as his uncle's political heir whose behavioural traits he cultivated. The other, an introvert, is at his best when plotting strategies on the drawing board rather than the rough-and-tumble of street-corner politics that his party is known for in India's financial capital.

Starting out as brothers-in-arms, they had a bitter falling out over inheriting the party mantle. The younger cousin branched out on his own, hijacked the populist, ethno-centric plank of his parent party, putting his cousin-turned-political foe on the defensive. A series of miscalculations later, the boot seems to be on the other foot. The elder cousin has managed to keep his flock together and cemented his position as his late father Bal Thackeray's political heir, while the other, one of the most popular crowd-pullers in Maharashtra, is itching for an electoral comeback.

The Cousins Thackeray evaluates the political careers of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. It also examines questions about identity politics, and the social, cultural and economic matrix that catalysed the formation of the Shiv Sena and the MNS from it. Above all, it is a look at what makes the Thackeray cousins so integral to the politics of India, Maharashtra and Mumbai.

304 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2019

Reviews

[Harshil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Politics of Maharashtra revolves around The Cousins Thackeray—Uddhav and Raj Thackeray. The book traces history of their family and their senas.

Book is written in journalistic style of Kulkarni which includes lots of anecdotes, interviews with colleagues and politicians of Maharashtra. All the necessary details about rise of Shivsena, struggle for power and later factionalism have been included in this book. Book has all details covering social reformer grandfather Prabodhankar Thackeray’s rise to time of Bal Thackeray when nativism was at its peak. Efforts taken by Kulkarni to explore the college days of cousins, initial days of their politics can be clearly read.

However, in later chapters, everything becomes fast forward. One thing which I personally didn’t like is pov of Thackeray Cousins have not been significantly included.

[Hitarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

well structured overall , but often times the storyline keeps moving back and forth , which could have been better arranged in a chronological order maybe .. extensive research has been done by author from publicly available sources, which have been listed exhaustively at end of the book. Although enough information in included in the book on the rivalry and political battles between the cousins , the personal front(esp businesses involved in) could've been explored more , but the limited information its understandable given that the families don't make their lives public as such..
must read to understand not just the cousins , but also the party's journey over the decades better

[Shivani · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded off to 3. Well researched and the subject is great no doubt, but it’s not very well-written or edited. Rambles crazily in the last couple of chapters, multiple typos and punctuation errors and abruptly moves from one era to another within a paragraph, which made me scratch my head a couple of times. Recommended read for anyone interested in the political landscape of modern Maharashtra.

[Abhinav · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a layman non Maharashtrian like me who knew about Maharashtra politics only as much as mainstream media covers, this book tells a lot about the whole idea of Maharashtra state from pre independence, the identity of the people, the politics after, story of Mumbai and Mumbaikars, everything revolving around one family spread over 3 generations #GoodRead