In the big debate concerning what has led to the downfall of Shiv Sena, journalist and close associate of the Thackerays, Pandharinath Sawant tells Outlook that certainly the ex-party supremo Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray is to be blamed, but so are the Sainiks who used the Sena as a crutch to fulfil their own political ambitions. Bal Thackeray’s brand of Hindutva was discontinued long ago, and that the MLA’s who cited this to be the reason for exiting the party is merely an excuse and not a falling out on religious grounds. Today, he says, younger Sainiks don’t involve veterans of the cadre-party in any decision-making, and so he’s just twiddling his thumbs at home.

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