Thackeray cousins reunite for BMC polls after 20-year feud
After a 20-year political split, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS have joined forces for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections. The alliance aims to consolidate Marathi voters, while the BJP dismisses it as a power-driven move
Mumbai: Ending a 20-year political feud, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS president Raj Thackeray forged an alliance on Wednesday for the elections to the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to be held on January 15.
The cousins addressed a 16-minute joint press conference at a hotel in Worli, a symbolic venue located within the constituency of Uddhav’s son Aaditya Thackeray.
The reunion, which the two described as a “duty toward Maharashtra”, laid special emphasis on consolidating the ‘Marathi manoos’ (sons of the soil) vote bank to counter the ruling Mahayuti coalition.
“Mumbai’s mayor will be Marathi, and he will be ours,” announced Raj Thackeray. This is seen as a signal of a joint push by both the factions to reclaim the civic body which has been ruled by the undivided Sena for 25 years.
Uddhav said the parties have finalised their seat sharing for the Nashik Municipal Corporation where elections are due on January 15, along with the 227-member BMC and 27 other municipal corporations in Maharashtra.
However, the Mahayuti coalition headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed this alliance as a desperate attempt for their “political survival” as the two parties performed poorly in recent State and local body polls.
Fadnavis, whose alliance recently won 207 of 288 municipal councils across the state, mocked the media hype surrounding the cousins’ reunion saying “the TV news channels were reporting as if it was the Russia-Ukraine alliance”.
Fadnavis said “their track record is of corruption and self-interest” and added that the alliance will not make any significant political difference.
“Uddhav Thackeray will have to give a reply on 25 years of the civic misrule. Old sins cannot be washed away,” he said.
In 2005, Raj Thackeray parted ways with the Shiv Sena founded by his uncle Bal Thackeray when it became clear that the Sena patriarch favoured his son Uddhav to lead the party. His uncle was like God to him but he could not work with the coterie surrounding Bal Thackeray, Raj had said then.
At the press conference on Wednesday, Uddhav mentioned the role played by the Thackeray family in the 1950s’ Samyukta Maharashtra movement which sought statehood for Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital.
Their grandfather `Prabodhankar’ Thackeray, a social reformer and writer, was a key figure in the movement and so were his father Bal Thackeray and uncle Shrikant, Raj Thackeray’s father, who played a role in ensuring that Mumbai was part of the state, Uddhav said.
However, there was no clarity on the seat-sharing arrangement for the BMC polls, leading to speculation that the Sena (UBT) and MNS had not reached decision on certain wards.
Earlier in the morning, Raj and Uddhav paid respects to Bal Thackeray at his memorial in Shivaji Park before driving to the press conference venue together in Raj’s vehicle.
The family bonhomie was on full display with Uddhav’s wife Rashmi and son Aaditya, and Raj’s wife Sharmila and son Amit being present at the conference.
In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena (UBT) won only 20 of the 94 seats it contested as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, while the MNS, which contested 125 seats, drew a blank. Following the debacle, the two parties came together in July this year to oppose the BJP-led state government’s decision to introduce Hindi for Classes 1 to 5.
Chief Minister Fadnavis downplayed the possible impact of the unity of the Thackeray cousins, expressing confidence that ‘Mumbai will stand firm with our government.”
“Thackerays are not the lone representatives of Marathi people and Mumbai,” he said.
‘Uddhav Thackeray will have to give a reply on 25 years of the civic misrule. Old sins cannot be washed away. I am a born Hindutvawadi and will die like that. I am not the one to wear saffron robes and change political stands for votes,” Fadnavis said in a swipe at Uddhav Thackeray who joined hands with the Congress and NCP after leaving the NDA in 2019.
BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar said Marathi voters were asking why Uddhav and Raj Thackeray had split up earlier, and reminded Raj of his old jibes aimed at Uddhav when they fell out.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who rebelled against Uddhav in 2022 and split the Shiv Sena, said the Thackeray cousins had come together only for power, and they lacked any kind of program for Mumbai’s development.
Speaking in Delhi, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, “Two dynasts have come together. They have forged an alliance between their parties fearing defeat. The people of Mumbai want to choose development under the NDA-BJP.”
