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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

The Unequal Cousins

Raj Thackeray’s ‘sacrifice’ saved Shiv Sena (UBT) but sank the MNS Mumbai: In the volatile theatre of Maharashtra politics, the long-awaited reunion of the Thackeray cousins on the campaign trail was supposed to be the masterstroke that reclaimed Mumbai. The results of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, however, tell a story of tragic asymmetry. While the alliance has successfully helped the Shiv Sena (UBT) stem the saffron tide and regain lost ground, it has left Raj...

The Unequal Cousins

Raj Thackeray’s ‘sacrifice’ saved Shiv Sena (UBT) but sank the MNS Mumbai: In the volatile theatre of Maharashtra politics, the long-awaited reunion of the Thackeray cousins on the campaign trail was supposed to be the masterstroke that reclaimed Mumbai. The results of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, however, tell a story of tragic asymmetry. While the alliance has successfully helped the Shiv Sena (UBT) stem the saffron tide and regain lost ground, it has left Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) staring at an existential crisis. The final tally reveals a brutal reality for the MNS - Raj Thackeray played the role of the savior for his cousin, but in the process, he may have become the sole loser of the 2026 mandate. The worse part is that the Shiv Sena (UBT) is reluctant to accept this and is blaming Raj for the poor performance of his party leading to the defeat. A granular analysis of the ward-wise voting patterns exposes the fundamental flaw in this tactical alliance. The vote transfer, the holy grail of any coalition, operated strictly on a one-way street. Data suggests that the traditional MNS voter—often young, aggressive, and driven by regional pride—heeded Raj Thackeray’s call and transferred their votes to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidates in wards where the MNS did not contest. This consolidation was critical in helping the UBT hold its fortresses against the BJP's "Infra Man" juggernaut. However, the favor was not returned. In seats allocated to the MNS, the traditional Shiv Sena (UBT) voter appeared hesitant to back the "Engine" (MNS symbol). Whether due to lingering historical bitterness or a lack of instructions from the local UBT leadership, the "Torch" (UBT symbol) voters did not gravitate toward Raj’s candidates. The result? The UBT survived, while the MNS candidates were left stranded. ‘Second Fiddle’ Perhaps the most poignant aspect of this election was the shift in the personal dynamic between the Thackeray brothers. Decades ago, they parted ways over a bitter dispute regarding who would control the party helm. Raj, refusing to work under Uddhav, formed the MNS to chart his own path. Yet, in 2026, the wheel seems to have come full circle. By agreeing to contest a considerably lower number of seats and focusing his energy on the broader alliance narrative, Raj Thackeray tacitly accepted the role of "second fiddle." It was a pragmatic gamble to save the "Thackeray" brand from total erasure by the BJP-Shinde combine. While the brand survived, it is Uddhav who holds the equity, while Raj has been left with the debt. Charisma as a Charity Throughout the campaign, Raj Thackeray’s rallies were, as always, electric. His fiery oratory and charismatic presence drew massive crowds, a sharp contrast to the more somber tone of the UBT leadership. Ironically, this charisma served as a force multiplier not for his own party, but for his cousin’s. Raj acted as the star campaigner who energised the anti-BJP vote bank. He successfully articulated the anger against the "Delhi-centric" politics he accuses the BJP of fostering. But when the dust settled, the seats were won by UBT candidates who rode the wave Raj helped create. The MNS chief provided the wind for the sails, but the ship that docked in the BMC was captained by Uddhav. ‘Marathi Asmita’ Stung by the results and the realisation of the unequal exchange, Raj Thackeray took to social media shortly after the counting concluded. In an emotive post, he avoided blaming the alliance partner but instead pivoted back to his ideological roots. Urging his followers to "stick to the issue of Marathi Manoos and Marathi Asmita (pride)," Raj signaled a retreat to the core identity politics that birthed the MNS. It was a somber appeal, stripped of the bravado of the campaign, hinting at a leader who knows he must now rebuild from the rubble. The 2026 BMC election will be remembered as the moment Raj Thackeray proved he could be a kingmaker, even if it meant crowning the rival he once despised. He provided the timely help that allowed the Shiv Sena (UBT) to live to fight another day. But in the ruthless arithmetic of democracy, where moral victories count for little, the MNS stands isolated—a party that gave everything to the alliance and received nothing in return. Ironically, there are people within the UBT who still don’t want to accept this and on the contrary blame Raj Thackeray for dismal performance of the MNS, which they argue, derailed the UBT arithmetic. They state that had the MNS performed any better, the results would have been much better for the UBT.

Rewriting the Polar Ledger

Kaamya Karthikeyan’s skiing odyssey to the South Pole crowns a teenage career built on astonishing willpower and endurance.

At 18, Kaamya Karthikeyan has become the youngest Indian and the second-youngest woman anywhere to ski to the South Pole. It is a feat that sounds deceptively neat in a newspaper headline which somehow fails to capture the gruelling reality of this stupendous achievement involving weeks of hauling a sled across the Antarctic nothingness, in temperatures that punish skin and spirit alike. In an age addicted to spectacle, Karthikeyan’s achievement is so striking precisely because it is so austere.


Anyone who has read even a little about Antarctica, whether in the grim stoicism of Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s ‘The Worst Journey in the World’ (1922) or the measured heroics of Roland Huntford’s dual biography of Scott and Amundsen (1979), knows that distances there are misleading. It is the conditions that punish.


Along Karthikeyan’s 115-kilometre route to the South Pole, temperatures sank to minus 30 degrees Celsius as winds scoured the surface, lifting hard ice crystals into blinding whiteouts. Beneath her skis lay sastrugi, or wind-carved ridges of frozen snow that sap momentum and patience in equal measure. She pulled her own sled throughout, carrying food, fuel and survival gear and completing the journey entirely on foot. This was the hardest way to complete a Polar Odyssey.


By becoming the youngest Indian to ski to the South Pole, Karthikeyan has inserted herself into a global narrative of exploration that still skews heavily Western. Polar history is crowded with Norwegians, Britons and Americans – from Amundsen and Shackleton to Ranulph Fiennes. In this narrative, Indians are scarce, and young Indian women as good as absent.


Now, Karthikeyan’s achievement complicates lazy assumptions about who gets to explore the extremes of the planet.


Polar travel is regulated, expensive and unforgiving of mistakes. Training regimes are clinical and include pulling weighted tyres to simulate sleds, learning to manage frostbite, mastering the tedious rituals of campcraft in sub-zero conditions. The Antarctic is not a place for dramatic heroics. Success depends on a mind-numbing routine which drains the reserves of one’s mental strength. It is only ski, eat, rest, repeat. The mind must learn to accept monotony as a condition of survival. For an 18-year-old to submit to this iron discipline says something essential about Karthikeyan’s character. Youth is usually associated with impatience, and Polar travel punishes it.


Raised in a naval household in Mumbai, Karthikeyan is the daughter of Commander S. Karthikeyan of the Indian Navy and educator Lavanya Karthikeyan. As an alumna of Navy Children School, she encountered the outdoors early, gravitating towards endurance sports that demand discipline rather than flash.


Mountaineering, long-distance trekking and polar travel form a niche within a niche, even globally. In India, where sporting aspiration is often funnelled towards cricket or increasingly, some Olympic disciplines, the idea of skiing across polar ice is almost eccentric.


And yet, before turning 18, Karthikeyan had already assembled a climbing résumé that would be impressive at any age. In 2024, she completed the Seven Summits Challenge, scaling the highest peaks on all seven continents - Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson and Kosciuszko. She became the youngest Indian and the second-youngest woman globally to summit Mount Everest from the Nepal side. At 13, she had climbed Aconcagua in 2020 as the youngest girl to do so, and Mount Elbrus in 2018, combining the ascent with a ski descent - an uncommon feat even among seasoned climbers.


Karthikeyan’s has moved steadily from high-altitude mountaineering into polar travel, marking a shift from vertical suffering to horizontal endurance. The South Pole expedition places her on the final leg of the Explorer’s Grand Slam, a coveted milestone combining the Seven Summits with ski journeys to both poles. Now, with Antarctica behind her, only the North Pole remains.


The Grand Slam demands mastery across radically different environments. While few muster the courage to complete it, fewer still manage to do it so young.


Karthikeyan’s inspirations are telling. Rather than the heroes of a bygone era, she cites figures such as Felicity Aston, the British polar explorer known for solo, unsupported crossings. It is a lineage defined by self-sufficiency rather than spectacle. Today, a small ecosystem of endurance athletes is emerging, supported by global training networks and a growing appetite for unconventional achievement. Karthikeyan stands at the frontier of this shift, expanding the idea of what Indian sporting ambition can look like.


While Polar exploration remains male-heavy, culturally and numerically, Karthikeyan’s presence challenges that imbalance. Having reached the end of the Earth, Kaamya Karthikeyan is already looking beyond it.

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