“Show me one photo where the BJP has done any project. In fact, the BJP had boycotted the bhoomi pujan of the Coastal Road because Uddhav Thackeray did it. He did it because it was our project,” said Aaditya.
“The only thing that the BJP has done is cut ribbons of these projects because of their good luck as they had toppled our government,” he added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed Aaditya’s claims at a rally on Wednesday.
“Some people are here to say that they made infrastructure projects in Mumbai. But ye public hai sab janti hai (the public knows everything). Even if you wake up a Mumbaikar in the dead of the night, and ask them who made the Coastal Road, BDD chawl redevelopment, Metro line, they will say it is Mahayuti that did it,” he said.
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Do-or-die situation
The much-awaited Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections will be held on 15 January, with counting the next day. All parties are locked in an intense battle for the polls being held after three years, as the BMC is the richest civic body in India, with a budget of over Rs 74,000 crore, and whoever controls it has enormous political and financial clout.
For the last 25 years, the BMC was ruled by the undivided Shiv Sena, along with the BJP, except for the last term from 2017 to 2022, when the BJP and Shiv Sena fought separately. The BJP won 82 seats, and Sena won 84 in a 227-seat corporation. However, with the Shiv Sena now divided, the BJP sees a good chance of controlling the BMC.
This year, the contest has taken on new dimensions. The principal contenders are the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Eknath Shinde-led breakaway Sena faction and the BJP, and a re-energised opposition bloc led by Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
A diminished force in the city, the Thackerays are campaigning on a shared ‘Marathi manoos’ plank to consolidate regional support. The BMC polls will be a crucial test for the Thackeray legacy in Mumbai.
Aaditya said they were fighting the election to “save Mumbai” as this was a “do-or-die situation” for the city with many crucial projects being relocated to Gujarat since the BJP came to power.
“In terms of the threat that Marathi manoos faces, look at the 10 years of the BJP in Maharashtra. Big industries sent away to Gujarat (in a) bullet train, Gujarat gets more stations. ‘Adanification’ of Dharavi, 1,600 acres of Mumbai, without paying taxes or without giving premiums or giving rightful homes to people living there. Why? Because the BJP goes with the ideology that they want Mumbai to go to Gujarat and not with Maharashtra,” he said.
“Mumbai came to Maharashtra after a fight; it wasn’t given to Maharashtra,” he added.
Aaditya was referring to projects like the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project, which was initially planned in Maharashtra but was shifted to Gujarat in September 2022. A year later, Foxconn pulled out of the joint venture with Vedanta.
Similarly, Maharashtra had sent a proposal to set up the Bulk Drug Park project, initiated by the Central government in 2020, in Raigad, but Gujarat was selected instead.
They were not the only projects that Maharashtra lost to Gujarat. The Tata-Airbus project was planned in Nagpur, but in October 2024, it was shifted to Gujarat. A Rs 8,000-crore solar panel project planned for Nagpur was also shifted to Gujarat last year.
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Saving Mumbai’s character
Aaditya Thackeray said the fight in this election was about showcasing their party’s work and saving the character of Mumbai.
He equated this fight to the Samyukta Maharashtra movement of the 1950s when Marathi manoos came together in a bid to make Mumbai part of Maharashtra.
To illustrate his point, he cited examples of how Marathi people were refused homes for being “Marathi” and ridiculed for eating non-vegetarian food in some parts of the city.
He sais that for many years, the city stood for co-existence but that was under threat under BJP rule.
“Many Hindi-speaking people have lived happily here for years. They come following their dreams. This is what we say. When the BJP says we polarise Marathis and non-Marathis, our topic is about having equal rights, equal freedom, equal voice for Marathis and everyone else who comes here,” he said.
Thackeray also said that many minorities who have lived peacefully in the city for many years trust the “Thackeray name”.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), since the formation of the Maha Vikas Agadi (MVA), has added minority voters into its fold. Thackeray said that the minorities trust the Thackerays because Uddhav Thackeray, as chief minister, did not differentiate between any person’s caste, creed, or religion.
Aaditya also dismissed the Congress party’s argument that the Sena (UBT) got minority votes because of the Congress.
“If the Congress feels that the minorities came to us because of them, good luck to their thinking. Minorities—namely, the Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists—for us, they are all citizens of India. During our rule in the BMC and the state, we have given water, electricity and BEST buses, irrespective of their religion. There was absolutely no discrimination,” he said.
“During COVID, we saved millions of lives without seeing their caste, creed, religion, or gender. We saw them purely as citizens of Maharashtra and provided them with water meters. Discrimination doesn’t come from us. We are just fighting to save our ‘asmita’. We have been coexisting for the last 50-60 yrs,” he added.
Why Mumbai is under threat
Thackeray said the Shiv Sena was able to maintain its vote share of over 16 per cent in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections despite a split in the Shiv Sena because minority communities voted overwhelmingly for the party.
The reason, according to him, was that the MVA was together then, and the Congress was a part of the alliance. However, in the BMC polls, the Congress is fighting separately.
He added that if the Shiva Sena (UBT) came to power, it would maintain the “character” of Mumbai.
“Keeping the social fabric intact without letting it get torn is what is the primary character of the city,” said Aaditya.
But he also said that since Uddhav and Raj are artists by profession and nature, they also want to see Mumbai with a particular aesthetic sensibility.
“There has to be a character to Mumbai. When you design streets, footpaths, and traffic islands, there has to be some sense to it. The city has to be a melting pot of ideologies, political, social, cultural ideas, and entrepreneurial ideas; that noise is the city,” said Aaditya.
Bond of the Thackeray family
Aaditya also emphasised that his extended family had come together after 20 years, and irrespective of the results, that bond would endure.
A year ago, at a podcast with actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said he was ready to set aside differences with his then estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray for Mumbai’s sake.
This statement was reciprocated almost immediately by Uddhav Thackeray, sparking talk about the a reconciliation between the cousins.
After that, they shared a public stage for the first time in 20 years over the Marathi language issue and alleged imposition of Hindi in Maharashtra schools. Later, the family kept on meeting at weddings, family functions, birthdays, and festivals.
The bond started growing, as was visible in videos and photos shared by the family.
“There is no desperation in two brothers coming together. We have realised that there was a vacuum in our lives that is getting filled now. The bonding is very strong, and it is a nice feeling. We will definitely stay together,” Aaditya said.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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