Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Saturday, 2 May launched a sharp attack on Bacchu Kadu, a long-time legislator and former minister from the Amravati division, accusing him of staging a theatrical act of political opportunism dressed up as spiritual renunciation. The critique appeared in a hard-hitting editorial in the party's mouthpiece Saamana, calling Kadu's merger with the Eknath Shinde faction a "living samadhi" — a ritual surrender that ultimately served only his own political survival.

The 'Samadhi' Ceremony and Its Reward

According to the Saamana editorial, the so-called "samadhi ceremony" was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his supporters alongside Kadu. Shortly after this symbolic act of political submission, Kadu's "new Guru" Shinde reportedly rewarded him with a nomination to the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC). The editorial sarcastically noted that Kadu, who had been struggling like a "fish out of water" since losing his Assembly seat, suddenly "saw God" once his legislative future was secured through the MLC appointment.

A Career Built on Political Pivots

The editorial traces Kadu's political journey in considerable detail. Originally a Shiv Sainik, he reportedly left the party — and its Hindutva ideology — after being denied a candidacy, choosing instead to contest as an independent. He subsequently served as a minister in Uddhav Thackeray's cabinet, only to switch sides during the 2022 rebellion, joining the so-called "pilgrimage" to Surat, Guwahati, and Goa that precipitated the Shinde-led split. When he failed to secure a ministerial berth in the new government, he resumed protesting against it — before ultimately joining the Shinde faction once his legislative status came under threat.

The Broken Promise

The editorial highlights a pointed irony: just days before formally joining the Shinde camp, Kadu had publicly declared, "We are not so worthless as to go with Shinde just for an MLA post." That statement, the editorial notes, was abandoned with remarkable speed. The Saamana piece describes Kadu's trajectory as emblematic of what it calls the "fallen state" of Maharashtra's politics, coining the phrase "hypocrisy of Mambaji" to characterise his actions.

The Amravati Rivalry and BJP's Larger Game

The editorial also situates Kadu's move within the broader political contest in Amravati, where a rivalry between Bacchu Kadu and Ravi Rana — an independent legislator backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — has long simmered. The Thackeray camp argues that this conflict between two "performers" is, in its words, "merely a business of fooling the public." Kadu had previously criticised the BJP's support for Rana as an act of "helplessness," a charge the editorial now turns back on him.

Notably, the Saamana editorial also warns that the BJP intends to contest future elections independently, planning to eventually discard both Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party faction and Shinde's Sena. According to the editorial, once Shinde's political utility is exhausted, leaders like Kadu will abandon their current allegiance and migrate to the BJP — a prediction framed as an inevitable next chapter in Kadu's serial political reinventions.

Farmers and Disabled Citizens Left Behind

The editorial's sharpest charge is reserved for Kadu's core constituency. While Kadu has long positioned himself as a champion of farmers, widows, and disabled citizens of the Amravati region, the Saamana piece argues that his pursuit of legislative office has done nothing to improve their condition. "While Kadu heads toward political salvation via the Legislative Council, the farmers, widows, and disabled citizens he claims to represent remain exactly where they were — neglected," the editorial concludes. Whether Kadu responds publicly to these charges is likely to shape the next phase of political discourse in Amravati.