The driving force behind the success of any sector in the public domain is a dominant perception of the respective amongst recipients. The better the perception, better the acceptance!
There have been numerous examples if to be analysed where, how a very popular brand had to bite the dust only because of the choice of succession based on the impractical decisions.
Examples like that of the Nokia’s journey of being the “King of Phone Era” to be “Struggling for Survival” or that of the exemplar of Late Dhirubhai Ambani whose business was divided between his two sons, Mukesh and Anil Ambani where the economic scenario between the two if compared, have become the case studies to understand the importance of succession.
Even the field of politics has not escaped from being grappled by this phenomena of brands perception and the result of it when on a path of decline. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut recently made an appeal to MNS Chief Raj Thackeray requesting to step up in his efforts and play a vital role in preserving the brand of Thackeray in Maharashtra’s politics.
As far as the concept of brand is concerned, one has to understand that this particular concept is a market driven phenomena which can be defined as general idea and an abstract meaning that gives the consistency to the brand and curates a distinctive identity in the market and in the minds of the consumers or voters in the case of politics. This is built over the years.
In the case of Shiv Sena, which was established by Late Balasaheb Thackeray years ago, it became a widely accepted brand in the Mumbai circles initially, for the ideological foundation of it was based on regional chauvinism.
However, with the changing times, Balasaheb moved on the issue of Hindutva which later resulted in the party extending its base in the entire state of Maharashtra. With the brand Shivsena, associated were its Karyakartas who worshipped their party leader because Balasaheb Thackeray with his credibility had percolated his acceptance through the minds of his party workers.
However, when it came to appointing his successor, Balasaheb chose his son Uddhav over the largely accepted leadership of Raj Thackeray who was seen as the mirror image of the Balasaheb.
Raj having learned the basics of politics from Balasaheb himself, he could naturally dwell into the nature of the politics of Shivsena. However, with the choice of blood relation over a politically deserving person, the late ShivSena supremo certainly could not manage and navigate through his succession plan.
Now because the choice was not done in the correct equations, the political perils were likely to happen and then commenced the devolution of the brand called as “Thackeray” in the state of Maharashtra.
Now the situation is so that at a time when the Thackeray scion is none other than the chief minister of Maharashtra, his close confidante has appealed Raj Thackeray to help them save the brand of Thackeray.
What can be understood from here is that devolution of a brand is inevitable no matter how huge it is, if the succession is based on emotion or nepotism than pragmatism. Change is the only constant in nature and those who fail to adapt with the changing times, they are bound to fall flat on the incline.
BJP is often termed as the party with a difference. At a time when the BJP is a brand much bigger the size of all the political parties in the country combined, however, the party’s image is marked by the choice of pragmatism and not nepotism.
While it is fact established beyond any doubt that, the next successor of the Congress party will be someone among Gandhis or the successor to Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray will be Amit and Aditya, no one in the wildest of their imagination could name the next BJP party national president.
This is the difference between the brand of BJP and other political parties. BJP’s brand is based not on one persons capability but is based on the ideologies which is a derivation of the efforts of numerous generations. Having said so, the torch bearer of the same changes from time to time in the most democractic manner.
As far as the appointing the successor of the party is concerned, the names of the leaders who lead the party can itself define that the decision was based on merits. While there was an era of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Din Dayal Upadhyay, a successful reign was handled by the combination Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani.
Similarly, the choices later involved the names of the likes of Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh. Even now when our leaders are none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda, however, efficient leaders having the potential to lead the party in future are being nurtured and trained from this nascent stage. While doing that , one has to bear in mind that, may be after ten yours, who can hold the reins for next ten years thereafter. Then one may think of Devendra Fadanvis or Yogi Adityanath and likewise. Tejaswi Surya, a party worker who went on to become the Member of Parliament, is an example of how BJP believes in the meritorious choices. Similar to this can also be traced in the RSS where every successor has set a paradigm to be followed while at the same time, the organisation has only evolved and grown stronger.
The most important aspect in the phenomena of a brand is to have a strong foundation based on some principles and ideologies which has to be improvised with the changing times. While making these changes, if the next successor is appointed contrary to the needs and requirements of the brand, then road down to the south is inevitable. This is exactly what has happened in the case of Shiv Sena.
Ever since, Uddhav Thackeray has become the chief minister of the party and has appointed his son as a cabinet minister, the disdain of the brand of Shiv Sena has commenced. While the first dent to the brand of Shiv Sena began with its mismanagement in governance of the state, the dent in the brand further grew deeper with Uddhav Thackeray inefficiency in handling the COVID-19 situation. And the last nail in the coffin was when Shiv Sena lost the battle of perception amidst the Kanagana Ranaut and BMC row. This was the incident when the “Mighty” brand image of the Shiv Sena came to the lowest and the Sena leader Sanjay Raut dialled SOS.
The situation could have been entirely different had late Balasaheb Thackeray have appointed the correct successor to his brand titled Sena. The case of Shiv Sena verily makes it clear that pragmatic decision while deciding succession is the ultimate key!