Food for Rs 10, medical check-up for Re1, promises Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday addressed his customary annual Dussehra Rally. The Shiv Sena has a tagline for the upcoming assembly election: 'Heech tee vel, haach toh kshan' (This the right time, this is the right moment). This tagline is significant, as for the first time, a Thackeray is contesting the election and the Sena is staking a claim to the chief minister's post.

Aaditya, son of the party chief Uddhav Thackeray, is contesting the assembly election from Worli. This explains the theme of the 'right time and right moment'. The Sena's election promises will bear this line. In Mumbai, there are Sena posters listing out the party's promises -- food for Rs 10, a reworking of its old promise of Zunka-Bhakar for just Re1, adjusted for inflation.

The Shiv Sena is always with those Muslims who love our country and we will try to solve their problems

However, corruption in the Re 1 Zunka-Bhakar scheme had forced the then Shiv Sena-BJP government (1995-99) to clean up its plate. But it has decided to serve a revamped version of this idea. In Tamil Nadu, the late chief minister J Jayalalalithaa had set up 'Amma' canteens, where high-quality food is served at affordable rates. The Amma Unnavagams were considered to have played an important role in bringing the Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam back to power in the state, following the assembly elections of 2016.

“The Shiv Sena is always with those Muslims who love our country and we will try to solve their problems,” Uddhav announced at the party’s rally on Tuesday.

The marketing of politics: Rakesh Waghdhare, an advertising expert and sympathiser of the Shiv Sena terms this tagline as a corporate marketing strategy. "Now, politics is corporate-style. Parties are 'marketing' their leaders and ideologies like commodities. But politics should focus on the common man's issues and their genuine problems," he said.