Shivshakti-Bhimshakti Alliance! Shinde’s fresh strategy for the Municipal Corporation? Can Republican votes secure Shinde’s win?

After the coming together of the Thackeray brothers, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has taken a fresh political step. Shinde has forged an alliance with Anandraj Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and chief of the Republican Sena, with the intention of influencing Dalit votes in the upcoming Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. Promoting this move under the slogan of “ShivShakti-BhimShakti”, Shinde aims to consolidate support from Ambedkarite voters.

 

At the same time, Anandraj Ambedkar has openly demanded that Ambedkarite groups must get a fair share in power. Shinde, while speaking about this political chemistry, referred to the thoughts and legacy of Balasaheb Ambedkar and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, giving the alliance an ideological justification.

 

The association of Shivshakti and Bhimshakti is not new; it has a long history in Maharashtra politics. In fact, this idea was first raised by Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966, barely six years after the formation of the Shiv Sena. Over the years, several experiments were made to unite these two forces:

 

 

 

 

 

This shows that since the time of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, several attempts have been made to unite these two political forces, making it a recurring experiment in Maharashtra’s political landscape.

 

Now, Eknath Shinde and Anandraj Ambedkar’s alliance is being seen as the latest chapter in this series of experiments. However, political observers are questioning its effectiveness, as Anandraj Ambedkar had managed to secure only around 18,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha elections. Despite this, Shinde’s move is considered a strategic attempt to attract Dalit voters by aligning with Ambedkar’s ideology, showing that Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti continues to remain a significant political narrative in the state.