36 SOCIAL SCIENTIST 14 Ibid. 15 There is no record of the positions of the shakhas earlier and their degree of concentration. Even the Shiv Sainiks do not remember correctly. But in certain areas like Dadar there were as many as three shakhas. 13 Personal interview with Datta Pradhan, May 1973, Bombay. 17 Pramukh literally means the chief or the leader. 18 Bal Thackeray said» "Students should study. That is their job." According to A K. Bhavc, "there is nothing special about the chattra shakhas which other shakhas cannot do. Balsaheb (Bal Thakeray) is also against college politics", personal interview, February 1973, Bombay. 19 However, till today the maintenance of records is very poor and haphazard. Vital information like the number of members has not been kept at all. 20 Most of the Shiv Scna officials hold a job. 21 Personal interview with Pramod Navalkar, February 1973, Bombay. 22 The Shiv Sainiks do not smoke in Thackeray's presence as he is something of a father figure. Some Shiv Sainiks say that smoking is prohibited in the shakha offices because they are very small. Others say that a shakha office is a sacred temple of Shivaji, and one does not smoke in a temple. 2^ Personal interview, October 1973, Bombay. 34 The ordinary Shiv ^ainik is quite religious. Ganesh is the most popular diety in Maharashtra, and many Shiv Sainiks display the idol both in their offices and in their homes. 23 There are two Shiv Sainiks in the committee of the Probhodhan. But this docs not make much difference as there is no formal membership in the Shiv Sena. The Prabhodhan, however, is not pro-Shiv Sena or ideological in its activity. It is mainly concerned with putting up plays and cultural items. 26 The lawyers are mostly Maharashtrians. But there are also non-Maharashtrian lawyers who work for the Shiv Scna. 2" Both in 1968 and 1973 they formed a tacit alliance with the Republican Party of India. For the mayoral election of 1973 it came to an understanding (unconfirmed though it is) with the Congress (R) whereby the latter would not use the state machinery to crush the Shiv Sena sponsored Bombay Bandh of December 1973. 28 See Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Proceedings, Bombay, Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat, Vol31-36. 29 This figure is for the year ending 31 December 1973 and obtained from the office of the Registrar of Trade Unions, Maharashtra State, Bombay. so Personal interview with Datta Salve, August 1973, Bombay. 31 According to a legal adviser, the BKS is independent of the Shiv Sena. But Datta Salve put this speculation to rest. "We arc a branch of the Shiv Sena and will always be." (Personal interview, October 1973, Bombay). M Datta Salve, Rajshree, Vol 9 No. 7, Special Issue, August 1972. 88 Personal interview, August 1973, Bombay. 81 Personal interview with B S Dhume, April 1973, Bombay. But in Johnson and Johnson, for instance, where the BKS is strong, the management supported Bombay Mazdoor Sabha, a non-party union. Personal interview with Dhup, December 1973, Bombay. 86 Personal interview with Datta Salve, August 1973, Bombay. 86 Datta Pradhan, m personal interview, May 1973, Bombay. 87 Personal interview, June 1973, Bombay. 88 For a text of this agreement see B S Dhume, Treachery of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, Engineering and Metal Workers Union, AITUC, Bombay. 89 P K Kurne ofCITU, in personal interview, July 1973, Bombay. 30 Personal interview, November 1973, Bombay. 41 Personal interview, September 1973, Bombay.