Shiv Sena turns 50: What next for the party?

The Shiv Sena turns 50 on June 19. The Sena's current president, Uddhav Thackeray, was only six years old when his father Bal Thackeray founded the party in 1966.

Bal Thackeray's intention to form the party was to build a movement demanding preferential treatment to Mumbai's Marathi population over migrants in city. Thackeray was a political cartoonist at the time and spread his anti-migrant ideology through cartoons and speeches.

The Shiv Sena attracted a significant of unemployed Marathi youth, who were attracted by Thackeray's charged anti-migrant oratory.

Shiv Sena can be considered as the father of the politics of the "son of the soil" theory. In its 50-year journey, the party has justified its name (sena:army) many times by making violence - threatened or carried out - the showpiece of its working philosophy. It has seen many up and downs, twists and turns.

Here's a look at the party's timeline since its inception:

1966: Shiv Sena formed by Bal Thackeray (40). Uddhav Thackeray is 6, Raj yet to be born. Congress encourages Sena to counter the growing CPI influence among textile workers.

1968: First political breakthrough: Sena wins 42 seats with Praja Socialist Party in Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC).

1969: First street battle over Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute. Kannadiga-owned hotels targeted. "Marathi Manoos" card helps consolidate position among Maharashtrians.

1970: Sena-CPI clashes climax in murder of CPI MLA Krishna Desai. Sena star on the rise among textile workers and in state politics.

1985: Captures BMC, spreads out across Maharashtra with leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Anand Dighe, Narayan Rane and Chandrakant Khaire. As mayor of Bombay, Bhujbal renames city as Mumbai.

1988: Raj Thackeray, 21, makes debut, organising rally of unemployed youth.

1989: Raj Thackeray made chief of Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, SHiv Sena's student wing. Sena joins Hindutva bandwagon with BJP, it's ally since 1984.

1992: First major rebellion when Bhujbal quits with 18 MLAs.

1993: Active participation in post-Mumbai bomb blast riots.

1995: Sena-BJP wrest power in state. Manohar Joshi becomes CM.

1999: Narayan Rane succeeds Joshi.

2001: Uddhav made Sena executive president on Raj's proposal.

2003: Uddhav's Mee Mumbaikar drive. Raj launches campaign against migrant job-seekers.

2004: Under Uddhav, Sena loses Assembly polls.

2005: Sanjay Nirupam resigns from Shiv Sena in March 2005. Narayane Rane quits party post, sacked in July. He joins Congress and becomes revenue minister by defeating Sena in Malvan by-poll.  Raj Thackeray resigns as leader of the Shiv Sena's youth wing and other party posts on November 27. He quits party on December 18.

2006: Raj Thackeray forms own party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2006.

2007: Sena retains power in BMC.

2009: Sena fails to win Maharashtra from Congress-NCP in 2009 Assembly elections.

2012: Sena retains power in Mumbai's civic body, winning 75 seats.

November 2012: Bal Thackeray, 86, dies. Uddhav Thackeray becomes party president.

May 2014: In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sena wins 18 seats in Maharashtra, and becomes part of the ruling NDA.

October 2014: In October 2014 Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Sena breaks alliance with the BJP and wins 63 seats contesting independently. Post-election, supports the BJP and becomes part of the ruling alliance.

2015 onwards: Sena has been constantly criticising and attacking its alliance partner BJP through its mouthpiece Saamna.

Now the question arises will Shiv Sena be able to revive its fortunes? After the 2014 Assembly elections, for the first time in the history of Maharashtra politics, Shiv Sena has been reduced to playing second fiddle to its alliance partner BJP in the Maharashtra government.

Whether it is able to consolidate and retain its base in the 2017 BMC elections amidst Mumbai's fast-depleting Marathi voters remains to be seen. In 2014 Assembly elections, Shiv Sena fought independently and won only 63 seats. Ever since it formed the government with BJP, it's equations with the alliance partner hasn't been too good.

The next Assembly election in the state would be held in 2019 and the million dollar question is whether the Shiv Sena will fight indepedently or go along with BJP.

The party under Uddhav Thackeray is striving hard. Sena has high ambitions of becoming the number one party in the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra. However, for this ambition to become a reality, the party will have to undergo major changes.

The party needs to tackle the challenges of keeping Marathi voters intact, and also of the generational shift in the party. Whether it goes with the BJP or not will also play a crucial role in its success in the state. Most importantly, it has to figure out how to increase its electoral footprint without comprising on the ideology.

Shiv Sena's 50th anniversary comes at an oppurtune time as it could provide the party with a much-needed oppurtunity for introspection to achieve its goal.