Mumbai: Estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray have shown willingness to come together in the “larger interest” of Maharashtra, their overtures coming in the backdrop of a Hindi imposition row and their parties going through difficult phases.
In a podcast with actor Mahesh Manjrekar, released Saturday morning, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said he can set aside his differences with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav if he is ready.
“I think our arguments, fights are insignificant things. Maharashtra is way bigger. And for the sake of the state, these fights, arguments are very petty. So I don’t see coming together as a difficult thing. But the question is of will. And it is not the question of my will or of my selfishness. It is time to see the larger picture,” Raj said.
And his olive branch to his estranged cousin seems to have elicited a positive response.
Speaking at a function of Kamgar Sena later in the day, Uddhav said he too is willing to put aside the differences “but I have a condition”.
“For Maharashtra’s benefit, I will not hobnob with anyone who comes in between this. He should not host anti-Maharashtra people and parties, nor visit them. First decide this and only then talk about coming together for Maharashtra’s sake,” Uddhav said, referring apparently to Raj’s frequent meetings with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde.
Raj has been sending feelers to Uddhav, and he did respond to some of those. But there was no significant progress.
Analysts say it is very early to comment on the developments, but they feel even this time nothing concrete is going to come out.
“If Uddhav can put up a condition, so can Raj. And what if he puts up the condition where he asks Uddhav to not go with the Congress as they ‘insult’ Savarkar? Besides, it also needs to be seen how it will benefit and whom it will benefit the most because both their constituencies are similar—Marathi manoos,” Political analyst Abhay Deshpande told ThePrint.
There are multiple factors that come into play before these two actually come together, he further said, adding that it could also be a game of “perception management” for both as they want to show their voters that “I was ready, the other one was not”.
Deshpande also wondered if Uddhav is ready to give another lease of life to Raj and his MNS, especially when it is down to its lowest. The MNS’s vote share in the 2024 assembly polls fell to a meagre 1 percent from 6 percent in 2019. “So that is why, it needs to be seen how honestly Uddhav Thackeray responds to Raj.”
These developments come at a time the Fadnavis dispensation brought a government resolution making Hindi mandatory from Classes 1 to 5. Raj, Uddhav and other opposition parties have come out strongly against this Hindi “imposition”. Eknath Shinde meeting Raj earlier this week also adds another layer of context to these developments.
Another political analyst, Prakash Bal, feels any coming together of the two cousins would mean a warning sign for Eknath Shinde.
“With Shinde being upset within the Mahayuti (government) and a cold war brewing between Fadnavis and Shinde, Fadnavis is looking at an opportunity to score over Shinde. And if Raj and Uddhav come together, Hindi-speaking voters or rather non-Marathi voters could rally behind the BJP and it could mean an isolated Shinde, i.e if the BJP goes solo in the upcoming civic polls,” said Bal.
Also Read: Thackerays have a plan to whip up support before civic polls. It starts on Shinde’s home turf
Not the first time
Raj left the undivided Shiv Sena in 2005 after Bal Thackeray announced Uddhav as his successor. He formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) the next year.
In its initial days, the MNS achieved political success, winning 13 seats in the assembly polls in 2009. However, that success started dwindling.
In 2012, after the death of Bal Thackeray, the estranged cousins were seen together for the first time since the split.
They were seen together at several personal family occasions since. The same year, when Uddhav underwent angioplasty, Raj stood with him. Similarly, in 2014, Uddhav visited Raj’s daughter, Urvashi, in the hospital when she fractured her leg in an accident.
Politically, the two cousins extended an olive branch to the other on multiple different occasions but nothing meaningful came out of those.
In an interview with the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana, Uddhav said in 2013 he would welcome any offer of an alliance with Raj “but one cannot clap with a single hand”. Raj did not respond.
Before the 2017 Mumbai civic body polls, the MNS, which was on a weak wicket after its debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha and assembly polls, made an unconditional offer to the Shiv Sena for an alliance for the larger benefit of the city’s Marathi population. This time, Uddhav’s Shiv Sena did not respond.
In 2019 when the MVA government was formed and Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister, he invited Raj and his family for the swearing-in ceremony by personally calling him. This time, however, Raj responded. He went to the Shivaji Park with his family to attend the swearing-in, a signal that a thaw in their ties.
Later, in 2022, when the BMC’s term was about to expire, there was a buzz once again that Uddhav and Raj might come together and Raj’s wife Sharmila Thackeray had said, “Let there be a call and let us see then.”
But things did not progress.
Then in December 2024, at a couple of family weddings, Raj and Uddhav were seen together, smiling and talking.
Then later again in February this year, they both met at the wedding of a government official’s son, a third meeting in two months, once again sparking speculation of them getting together.
They might have sent out positive signals in the past too, but their latest overtures are more crucial than ever before as Uddhav and Raj both fight for political survival.
MP Sanjay Raut, a Uddhav Thackeray loyalist, welcomed the prospect of the two cousins coming together. “They both are brothers. Due to some differences, their paths were different. But he should take a firm stand that those who are anti-Maharashtra, he (Raj) will not be courteous towards them. And then we will start further discussions, if at all,” Raut told the media.
“The BJP and its allies want to finish off the name Thackeray from Maharashtra. So at this point if both Thackerays have said and reacted to each others’ call, then we welcome it. We will wait and watch but we will definitely look at this from a positive angle,” he added.
However, MNS spokesperson Sandip Deshpande said that though Raj Thackeray will take a final call, in previous incidents he could recall, Uddhav’s party did not respond positively to Raj’s proposals.
“Just because the BJP did not agree on a 2.5 years chief ministership, you broke ties with them and are calling the BJP anti-Maharashtra now. He (Uddhav) betrayed us earlier, then the BJP and now seems like he wants to betray the Congress and Pawar sahib as well. So, for a common worker like me, I want to know on what grounds we should ally with them and trust them. Finally the decision to form an alliance or not is Raj sahib’s,” Deshpande told the media.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: From 13 to 0 in 15 years: Raj Thackeray’s MNS hits new low, hurts Shinde in Mumbai
