Shiv Sena, formed in the sixties for the benefit of Marathi Manush, after setting foot in Maharashtra, wore the cloak of Hindutva and tried to spread its feet in other states of the country. But, outside Maharashtra, he got success only once in Uttar Pradesh when Bahubali Pawan Pandey was elected Shiv Sena MLA. Nearly 30 years after this, Shiv Sena has waved saffron in the Union Territory of Dadra Nagar Haveli. Terming it a victory against injustice-dictatorship, Shiv Sena leader and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray has said that it is the conch shell of the new development festival.

The Shiv Sena won its first success outside Maharashtra in the 1991 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections when Bahubali Pawan Pandey was elected MLA from Akbarpur. Pawan Pandey, who became a confidante of late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray after winning the election, had emerged as the strongest face in Uttar Pradesh at that time. At that time, under his leadership, Shiv Sena had also registered its presence in the local body elections of Gorakhpur, Ballia, Meerut, Varanasi, and Lucknow. But in the subsequent elections, Pawan Pandey could not win the election again. In the same period, when Mayawati became the Chief Minister of the state, she started targeting people with criminal tendencies.

Due to this Bahubali Pawan Pandey had to flee to Mumbai. In Uttar Pradesh, the expansion of the party came to a halt due to a lack of leadership in Shiv Sena. This is the second major achievement of Shiv Sena after the presence of Shiv Sena in the UP Assembly when Kalaben Delkar will make his presence felt in the Parliament as Shiv Sena MP from the Union Territory of Dadra Nagar Haveli. Kalaben has won this seat as a Shiv Sena candidate after the death of her husband Mohan Delkar, who was an MP from this seat. Kalaben’s husband Mohan Delkar was found dead in a south Mumbai hotel in February. After that the Delkar family came closer to Shiv Sena. Kalaben defeated BJP candidate Mahesh Gavit by a huge margin of around 50 thousand votes.

Late Shiv Sena’s chief Bal Thackeray tried to expand the party outside Maharashtra as well. However, he never went for campaigning in any state. But his dream was that Shiv Sena should be expanded to other states also. Shiv Sena, formed 55 years ago in 1966, has contested assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, and West Bengal in the past. But, the party’s support base could not increase in any state other than Maharashtra. But Shiv Sena is very happy with the victory of Dadra Nagar Haveli. Shiv Sena’s ambition is to become a national party after winning the Dadra Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha by-election. Party sources say that the Shiv Sena can play a big bet in the assembly elections of five states including Uttar Pradesh next year. For the time being, Shiv Sena will put more emphasis on Uttar Pradesh.

Shiv Sena’s spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut said that this is just the beginning. In the coming days, Shiv Sena will also contest elections in Daman and South Gujarat. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, we will have an important role in forming the government. Raut said that Shiv Sena will come out strongly in the UP elections.