THERE are two kinds of people who make it to the upper reaches of the Shiv Sena—those who have been with the party from the begining and slugged it out for the last 30 years as the party grew; and those, belonging to a very small group, who sport the auspicious surname 'Thackeray'. On both counts Vijay Gajanan Loke doesn't qualify.
He joined the Shiv Sena only recently and even in the Congress, which he left, Loke was just a municipal corporator. Little known in either party, the question has been "Vijay Loke, who?" Party chief Bal Thackeray changed that when, at a rally last fortnight, he declared that Vijay Loke would be a Sena youth leader next only to his son Uddhav and nephew Raj.
The sudden elevation caused a flutter among the old guard, some of whom are a part of the Shiv Sena's second rung leadership, as well as among the rising younger group which has been steadily muzzling into the higher ranks. The new question was: "Why Loke?" The answers on offer take into account the friendly family ties Loke has with the Thackerays and also the Kini case—Loke knows Laxmichand and his son Suman Shah, landlords of Ramesh Kini whose murder case acquired political significance following allegations about the involvement of Raj Thackeray.
Says Opposition leader Chhagan Bhuj-bal, who defected from the Sena to the Congress a few years ago: "He (Loke) is a close friend of Raj Thackeray. He was connected with the Ramesh Kini case and has been interrogated by the police. Since he was not given a Sena ticket for the municipal corporation elections, they must have thought this was the best step to keep his mouth shut and keep him playing a favourable role in the Kini case." Loke's pole vault to the top rung of the Shiv Sena has also been ascribed to the Congress debacle in the mayoral elections after many party corporators cross-voted. An irate Congress leadership forced the resignation of its corporators—Loke, said to have played a key role in the defeat, later defected to the Sena with six corporators.
Loke gives different reasons for leaving the Congress. At 37, after putting in several years of work beginning with student politics, the party gave him scant returns, says Loke. Becoming municipal corporator in 1992 was a career best for him in the party. "I put in years of hard work. Instead of going ahead I even went backwards in 1985 when I opted to work with the party's student wing. When they gave me a civic ticket in 1985, it was deliberately from a different constituency. Naturally, I lost. In '92 I had to show them my ration card and insist on getting my own constituency Byculla," says Loke.
The Congress has labelled Loke a 'defector' and the Sena's 'Trojan horse'. Says Bhujbal: "I got him the corporation ticket in '92, he rewarded me by sabotaging my election to the legislative assembly. When you are with a party, work for it. If you don't want to do that, leave." Many in the Sena admit that Loke's family ties with them are not recent. "I don't know much about Vijay, even in the Congress he was a small-timer. But his father, Gajanan (former Congress MLA), was with us—at heart. He even worked for my elections," says a Sena minister. While the father and son were with the Congress, grandfather Shankarrao Loke was a local communist leader and Vijay Loke's sister married into a Janata Dal legislator's family.
Better known as 'Pappan' to some of the Sena old-timers, Loke has a well-established relationship with the party from Raj and Uddhav Thackeray down to the rank and file. And in the Sena monolith, headed by a mercurial Thackeray, proximity to the ruling family often counts more than positions of power. The anger at Loke's overnight ascent remains privately expressed. "Not everybody understands the Sena and its functioning. We accept the decision of our leader, as it is always in our best interest," says legislator Arvind Sawant. Not an all-pervasive view. "Leaders are not created overnight, they have to work to lead. Here he has got in a day what it took us 30 years to achieve," says a senior Sena leader.
Aware of the resentment, Loke is careful to say that he will work under all the senior Sena leaders: "I respect them and will work under their guidance. Vijay Loke did not switch parties for a ticket or a car with a red light. I asked for nothing, and I am prepared to work. They have given me a party post, I will give the Sena my hard work." However, Vijay Loke knows he has one certificate that can shield him from the barbs of enemies in the Shiv Sena—the blessing and backing of Bal Thackeray.
