MUMBAI, May 2: Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, son of party chief Bal Thackeray, today told The Indian Express that the party ``Constitution'', established soon after the Sena's foundation, had concentrated all powers in the hands of his father.

And although it might have taken 30 years for the Sena to be recognised as a political entity in its own right, the arrangement had worked very well with few rumblings as to its composition.

``It would be undemocratic to force such `democracy' on a party of this nature,'' said Uddhav. ``We have taken up the matter with the Election Commission and hope to find a solution at the earliest.''

The Sena has never had a formally elected executive as such. Barring the Emergency years, when all political parties had to declare an executive or be banned, there is no record with the Election Commission (EC) about the Sena's party structure. At the time, Thackeray's name did not figure on the party executive list, which is now considered redundant. Nor was its Constitution, which Uddhav claims was written in the 'sixties, been placed on record.

Each party, however, has its own character and flavour, claims Uddhav. And the Sena has always recognised Thackeray as its unchallenged supremo. Nevertheless, the Sena chief has established a vast network of party executives informally. These include senior Sena leaders, declared as netas, shakha and vibhag pramukhs, among others.

Since many of these top netas, like Manohar Joshi, Sudhir Joshi, Pramod Navalkar and others are now in government, the party is considering declaring a ``second rank leadership'' that will effectively take over the organisational work of the party.

According to Uddhav, this list of second rank leaders has already been drawn up and is likely to be announced on June 19, which will mark the party's 31st anniversary. With such an organisational network in place, the Sena believes that ``elections'' become redundant.

``There should be no compulsion on us to go through the motions of elections just to satisfy a few norms. How many other parties have such a network? We have taken care of leadership even at the local self-government levels,'' he says.

In fact, considering that there was a vast reorganisation of wards prior to the February 1997 civic polls, the Sena is considering once again re-networking its shakhas to match the different wards. So there will be a lot more ambitious individuals who will find room in the party executive. While they might all hold office at the pleasure of the Sena chief, Uddhav demands to know how many other parties have recently taken care to set up a similar party network. ``They mostly have a top without a base,'' he quips. He is, however, quick to add that the Sena has no intention of defying the Election Commission over this issue. A solution has to be arrived at by dialogue and consensus. ``However, at the national level if there are violations of the law during parliamentary, Assembly or local elections, or if there are instances of bogus voting or excessive expenditure, we are willing to co-operate with the EC in setting these things right. But the internal matters of the different political parties, we feel, are best left alone.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.