Sharmila Thackeray wages ‘cold war’ against sister-in-law
Raj Thackeray’s wife, Sharmila is bent on sidelining her ambitious younger sister-in-law Shalini.
A feud in Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray’s family has surprised party workers. Thackeray’s wife Sharmila, who has not been involved in politics so far, is bent on sidelining her ambitious younger sister-in-law Shalini. A source in the party said that Sharmila did not appreciate the rapid growth of Shalini, who began as an ordinary worker in 2007 and is now one of the party’s most influential leaders. Sharmila is now taking personal interest in the party’s affairs wherever Shalini is involved.
Sharmila’s sudden burst of activity has surprised many in the MNS. She inaugurated six libraries in Mumbai North-West constituency on Monday. It was the first time that she covered the entire constituency in a single day. Shalini had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from this constituency, coming in third with 1.2 lakh votes.
“Shalini’s proximity to Raj has made her a powerful leader. She never required help from any leader other than Raj for any programme in her constituency. She is a known face there. We thought that something was wrong when Sharmila came for the inauguration,” an MNS leader from Andheri said.
According to the source, Sharmila wants to foil Shalini’s attempts to grab the post of the president of the party’s women’s wing. The post has been lying vacant since Shweta Parulkar defected from the MNS to join the Shiv Sena in 2009. Shalini, who is one of the wing’s 12 vice presidents, has emerged as a strong contender for the post.
“Sharmila has made her presence felt, although she is not active in the party. It is a signal that Raj cannot overlook her opinion while deciding on the next president of the women’s wing. Sharmila will try her best to undermine Shalini,” he said.
Earlier, film producer Raj Kundra complained that workers belonging to the party’s film wing tried to extort money from his staff. Sharmila had urged Raj to take strict action against Shalini, the film wing’s general secretary. Sharmila also ensured that Shalini did not accompany Raj when he travelled from Dadar to Chembur on the Eastern Express Highway to protest against the state government’s toll tax collection policy. Raj had asked Shalini to go to Dahisar on the Western Express Highway to participate in the protest. When asked, Shalini denied any family feud: “The libraries are very close to my heart. She inaugurated them at the Assembly level. I will take them to the ward level. We wanted someone senior in the party to attend the function. Her presence energised the workers. I don’t think there was any other message in it.” Sharmila was not available for comment.