Who is Rahool Kanal?

On March 23 a new political figure emerged seemingly out of nowhere His claim to fame Vandalising a club known for hosting artistes especially standup comedians This was Rahool Kanal a ldquoBandra boyrdquo whose Instagram account rahulnarainkanal tells us the tale of an ambitious politician and friend of the Khans and DuttsKanal is as Bandra as it can getmdasha student of St Stanislaus High School and of Shrimati Mithibai Motiram Kundnani College of Commerce amp Economics commonly known as MMK College Kanalrsquos world extended at the most to KharNow with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shindersquos party youth wing Kanal is said to have had his first introduction to politics as a member of the National Students Union of India NSUI the Congressrsquo student wing in Mumbai UniversityRahool Kanal handing over a cheque to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan towards Chief Ministerrsquos fundKanal who hails from a Sindhi family first began his association with highranking Congress leaders like Gurudas Kamat and eventually Sunil Dutt as well as Priya and Sanjay Dutt The Bandra connection eventually led him to the late Baba SiddiqueA close family friend of the Kanalrsquos tells us that in fact he would often introduce himself to people as Siddiquersquos other son ldquoHe would often say that Baba sir considers me as a son and he would often use this leverage for social capital and increasing the familyrsquos real estate holdings in Bandrardquo says the friendHe was also one of the youngest trustees of the Shirdi Trust which brought him in close contact with other celebrities and politicians to set up arrangements for their visitldquoSoon he was wining and dining with Salman Khan Shah Rukh Khan and anyone who is anyone in Bandrardquo says the journalist Bearing this out his Instagram feed has plenty of selfies with celebsRahool Kanal with Virat Kohli right with Salman KhanOne of the familyrsquos Bandra properties was Kanalrsquos chiropractor father Narayanrsquos clinic which was quite famous in the rsquo80s and rsquo90s His fatherrsquos vocation also got Kanal in close proximity to Matoshree where he was regular as his father treated the late Balasaheb ThackerayldquoEven though his first foray into politics was with the Congress Kanal always had had good political roots He very good friends with the Thackeray family it is where his association with not just Aaditya but also Eknath Shinde happened In fact he often used to also stay overnight theremdashhis father and Balasaheb were that closerdquo says another journalist who has seen the rise of Kanalrsquos career from the Congress to his Shiv Sena defection He was in fact the Yuva Senarsquos core committee member as well as the education committee member BMC for nine years from 2009ldquoWhen Kanal defected from the Congress he clawed his way up into the inner coterie of the Yuva Sena with the likes of Varun Sardesai and all the other children of the Sena leadership Aaditya was already a childhood friendrdquo says another journalist ldquoKanal and Aaditya were soon inseparable at the time it was a big flex of the former and he capitalised on it very wellrdquo they addMany said the news that Kanal was one of the lieutenants who allied with Eknath Shinde in 2022 when the Shiv Sena split was not unexpected The then 37yearold Kanal had become disillusioned with Uddhav Thackerayrsquos leadership and had also begun to distance himself from Aaditya who in turn had become harder for Kanal to accessSanjay Patil who has written a PhD paper on the rise of the Shiv Sena in the rsquo90s feels that while Uddhav and Aaditya have been leaders in their own right the one place they made a bad call was in putting together the Yuva Sena ldquoThe Yuva Sena as an idealogy clashed with the original idea of the shakhas A lot of the Yuva Sena were unable to connect to the Marathi manoos from the chawls of Mumbai Like any party there were a few strategic mistakes In this case the lack of understanding of who they must let in to be a part of the Yuva Sena is a decision that still haunts themrdquo he saysIndependent journalist Varun Singh believes that Kanal has ldquoawesome networking skillsrdquo and like any politician has timed the vandalism to his advantage ldquoKanal has serious political aspirations and it is well known that he wants to enter the Assembly It was a strategic move on his part to react to what was being said about Shinde Otherwise he may have been seen as someone in whose backyard his party leader is insulted with no repurcussionrdquo says SinghA few days after getting bail an even more aggressive Kanal told the media when asked if it was appropriate that he took matters into his own hands ldquoYou Kunal Kamra will be taught a lesson for what you have done and not only you but the people who have put you up to it This is a paid conspiracy and the police will investigate thisrdquo he said When egged on by reporters about the violence he and his party workers unleashed he adds ldquoYe trailer tha picture abhi baki hai this is just the trailer the movie is yet to come you will get a good lessonmdashShivSena stylerdquoWith inputs from Sanjeev Shivadekar