In minority outreach, Uddhav Thackeray again talks of RR jawan Aurangzeb

For years, the Shiv Sena has talked of Aurangzeb as the "cruel Mughal ruler" who Maratha warrior Shivaji had fought against. However, of late, Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has been talking of another Aurangzeb, the Rashtriya Rifles jawan who was kidnapped and killed in July 2018 by Kashmiri terrorists. The Sena has, over the years, been called a communal party by its critics, but now the Sena's rhetoric has changed as informal surveys have shown that the minority community has been warming up to the party ever since the MVA alliance was formed.

At Wednesday's Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, Thackeray once again spoke highly of the RR Jawan who was killed and said he 'is our brother' who defended the country. With Uddhav constantly highlighting the case of Aurangzeb, the Sena is throwing a clear message to the minority community that it has nothing against it and is activing wooing the community. In fact, during Wednesday's rally, Thackeray said that his Hindutva was different from that of the BJP as he was proud of people like Aurangzeb.

The Sena's strategy seems to be that along with its traditional votebank, if it can garner Muslim votes and the anti-BJP votes which normally go to the Congress, then it places the party at a vantage position against the BJP.


This is not the only time that Uddhav spoke about Aurangzeb. At a rally in June this year, he said: "How can we not be proud of Aurangzeb who died for our country. Let him be from any community, he has died defending our country, this is our Hindutva."

Thackeray harping on the Kashmiri soldier is a deliberate strategy by the Sena to take on the BJP in the state..