Buzz in Maharashtra’s political circles suggests the estranged Thackeray cousins could reunite and bury the hatchet in the name of Marathi pride and cultural unity. After a video of Raj Thackeray on a podcast went viral on social media, in which he spoke about the possibility of an alliance ‘for Maharashtra’, his cousin’s faction, Shiv Sena (UBT), shared a clip of Uddhav Thackeray echoing a similar sentiment.
This rumour of reconciliation comes nearly two decades after the Thackeray cousins parted ways. The buzz has been sparked days after the Maharashtra government reportedly made the teaching of Hindi compulsory as a third language from Class 1 in all state government schools, along with Marathi and English. This was done per the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 from the academic year 2025-26.
Raj is the nephew of the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and had left the party at the beginning of 2006. He had blamed Uddhav for his departure.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj featured in a podcast interview hosted by filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar which was recorded weeks ago and was released on Saturday. In the conversation, he said that he has no problem working with Uddhav and said it was unclear if the Sena (UBT) leader was ready to work with him.
Raj in the podcast said, “For a larger cause, our problems and personal fights are minor, Maharashtra is big. Our fights are minor for the state of Maharashtra and the existence and identity of the native Marathi speakers (Marathi Manoos).”
He added that it was not a big deal to work together with Sena (UBT), but the real question is whether there is a desire to do so.
Raj continued, “It is not the issue of my desire or selfishness, as we need to look at the bigger picture. All Maharashtrians should come together to form one united party.”
After he parted ways from Shiv Sena, Raj formed his party, the MNS. It won 13 seats in the Assembly Polls of 2009. However, the crushing loss came in the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections when MNS lost at all 135 seats.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are expected to be held later this year.
In response to the comments of Raj, Sena (UBT) posted a video of the party President Uddhav addressing the function of party’s trade union wing, Bhartiya Kamgar Sena in Mumbai, saying that he, too, is ready to get back together with Raj by keeping all trivial issues aside for the sake of Marathi language and culture.
Uddhav said, “I appeal to all Marathi people to come together for the benefit of the state and Marathi.”
He also brought up the alleged move of industries of Maharashtra to Gujarat and stated that if Raj had opposed the issue at that time, things would have been different at the Centre.
“During the Lok Sabha elections, when we said that the industries of Maharashtra are moving to Gujarat, if they had opposed at the time, then the Central government would not have been in power today. We would have formed a government at the Centre and state levels that thinks about the welfare of Maharashtra,” he added.
He also clarified that supporting the present ruling government of Maharashtra sometimes and then opposing it would not work and stated that he will not ‘welcome them’.
“Sometimes we will support, sometimes we will oppose, and sometimes we will compromise — this will not work, I will not come in the way of the state’s interest. I will not compromise with them, I will not invite them home, I will not go to their home, I will not welcome them, I will not sit in a row with them,” he said, talking about Raj’s relations with the state government.
Raj had recently hosted the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his home, who is the head of the other faction of Shiv Sena.
The relations between the two factions of Shiv Sena are sour as in 2022, Shinde split the party, which resulted in the toppling of the government. This happened as Shinde claimed that he was against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance. MVA is an alliance between the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Indian National Congress.
Uddhav in the address said, “First decide this, then discuss about Maharashtra’s interest, as for the rest of the issues, today I end all the fights and work for only Maharashtra’s interest”, he added.
During the Lok Sabha elections, Raj had given his ‘unconditional support’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and this rumoured reunion with Uddhav would mean an end to that support.
A reunion of the estranged Thackeray cousins would mean that the Maharashtra politics would see a shift yet again – after the alliances and disagreements of the past years.
The split of Shiv Sena was not the only flip that Maharashtra politics saw in the past years; the split of NCP between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar was also momentous. The upcoming BMC elections could be a testing ground for the Thackeray cousins and their collaboration. It could be that the MNS-Sena (UBT) alliance will play on the emotional appeal during the civic elections.
Fadnavis welcomed the possible reunion of the Thackeray cousins. He said, “If the two come together, we will be happy about it. If people settle their differences, it is a good thing. What else can I say about it?”
Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut remarked that there is no alliance yet, only emotional talks are going on. He said, “There is no allaince (between MNS and Shiv Sena -UBT) as of now, only emotional talks are going on.”
He added, “Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray are brothers. We have been together for years. Our relationship has not broken… Both brothers will decide (about the alliance). We have accepted what Uddhav Ji said: for Maharashtra, if we (MNS and Shiv Sena -UBT) need to come together, we will.”
Finally, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande clarified that the comments of party chief Raj should not be viewed from an electoral lens.
He said, “The stand taken by Raj Saheb in his interview shouldn’t be viewed merely from an electoral lens, that’s a very narrow perspective. Elections come and go, but what’s important is to reflect on what truly benefits Maharashtra and the Marathi people. The growing dominance of Hindi in Maharashtra and the way outsiders are taking away local employment are issues that need serious and wide-ranging discussion.”
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