Trouble In The Den

MORE than a year after it stormed to power, with the BJP in tow, the Shiv Sena suffered its most serious blow this fortnight. Bal Thackeray's nephew, Raj, noted as much for his quick rise in the party as his resemblance in looks and style to the party supremo, was defending himself against charges of conspiracy in extortion and murder, brought on by the victim's wife. This is the strongest case against the Thackeray clan, and it's clear the party will have to pay a heavy price for getting entangled in questionable deals.

Congress leaders called the press and introduced Sheila Kini, who said her husband, Ramesh Kini, had often been summoned to the offices of the Sena mouthpiece Saamna and told to vacate their flat at Matunga in north central Bombay. She alleged that her husband left home on July 23 saying he was headed for the Saamna office. Next day, he was found dead in Pune. Congress leaders alleged hanky-panky, met Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta on July 28, and asked him to order a CBI probe. But Gupta said an inquiry could not be conducted without the state's approval.

The brash manner in which Shiv Sainiks sought to defend Raj made it clear that power had brought neither sobriety nor political savvy to the party. The Sainiks promised to teach a lesson to Chhagan Bhujbal, who defected from the Sena to the Congress and is now the opposition leader in the state legislative council, and who they believe is behind the campaign against the Thackerays.

Raj says he had never met Kini but con-firms he knew Laxmichand Shah, the man who wanted to have Kini's flat vacated. He called the charges a "conspiracy" hatched by Bhujbal and ex-chief minister Sharad Pawar. "Yesterday, it was Jaidev, today it's me. Tomorrow, it could be Uddhav," he said. "But we're prepared to fight."

Jaidev Thackeray had been accused by Anita Juneja, a resident of Versova in western Bombay, of involvement in evicting her from her rented apartment. Earlier, city builder Kiran Chamankar alleged in a police complaint that he had been threatened in a property dispute by people using Jaidev's name. Police searched the building in which Jaidev stays and arrested six people. Thackeray's son was not among them.

Bal Thackeray is learning that if trouble comes, it comes in bundles. He lost his wife Meenatai a year ago, just when he was beginning to savour the fruits of victory in the assembly elections. Then he had a heart bypass which incapacitated him for the best part of the Lok Sabha election campaign. One son (Jaidev) was implicated in a poaching incident. Another (Bindumadhav) was killed in a road accident.

Uddhav had recently been accused of running a subsidised Jhunka-Bhakar food stall near the busy Dadar railway station on prime land allotted to his "trust", bypassing city corporation rules. Allegations of land-grab by the Thackerays in the Kala Nagar artists' colony, where they reside, have been doing the rounds.

Clearly, things couldn't have been any worse for the self-proclaimed 'Hindu Hriday Samrat'. Although, the Sena-BJP combine won 33 out of the 48 seats up for grabs, obtaining a stranglehold in as many as 222 assembly segments, cracks have begun to show. Thackeray claims the BJP had assured him that it would declare five members of the party unattached in the legislative council and then backed out, facilitating Bhujbal's election. But BJP national president L.K. Advani says no such assurance had been made. Thackeray holds the media responsible for creating problems between his party and the BJP, and for tarnishing the name of "me, my son, and my daughter-in-law."

Clearly, the heat is on. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi has kept mum. But his deputy Gopinath Munde has brought in several cops of his choice to the city, thus weakening the Thackerays' grip over the force. Munde is said to be behind the raids ordered on Jaidev's residence on charges of extortion. Though the raids were later denied, reports that Munde is collecting fresh dope on the family is hardly likely to give them cause for cheer.