Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray .
Credit: X@ShivSenaUBT_
Mumbai: In what signals a major churning in Maharashtra politics, the Thackeray cousins - Uddhav and Raj - held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday in what appears to be the first formal discussions to seal an electoral alliance between Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS in the run up to the mega local bodies elections in the state.
While the Shiv Sena (UBT) has described the meeting as personal, the MNS has not commented on it.
The meeting, which came as a surprise, sparked off a buzz within the ruling BJP-led Maha Yuti as well as opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The formal meeting between Dadu and Raja - as the cousins call each other - comes after the duo made three public appearances the first being on July 5 at the Dome in Sardar Vallabhbhai Stadium, National Sports Club of India in Worli, on the issue of Marathi-bhasha, Marathi-asmita and the larger cause of Maharashtra - a scene that the people of the state waited for two decades.
Thereafter on July 27, Raj drove to Matoshree to wish Uddhav on his 65th birthday, which the former Chief Minister reciprocated on August 27 by visiting the Shivtirth on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
While Uddhav, the Shiv Sena (UBT) head was accompanied by close aides - Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut and MLC Anil Parab, Raj, the MNS president, was accompanied by former state minister Bala Nandgaonkar and party’s Mumbai chief and spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande.
The details of Wednesday’s Uddhav-Raj meeting at Shivtirth is not clearly known.
However, Raut, the Man Friday of Uddhav and close friend of Raj, said that it was a personal meeting.
“There was no political programme or politics there. The truth is that Uddhav went to Raj house during Ganpati. Then, Raj’s mother, who is Uddhav’s maternal aunt, told him to come to meet her because they could not speak due to the crowd. Accordingly, Uddhav went to Raj’s house,” he said.
However, the back to back meeting of Thackeray cousins after two decades of estrangement comes in the run up to the local bodies elections when BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, the biggest civic body of Asia and richest in India, would go to polls.
In fact, Raj is considered close to Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP stalwart Devendra Fadnavis and had supported the BJP-led NDA during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, in the subsequent Vidhan Sabha polls, he went alone.
On the other hand, Uddhav is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi crafted by NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar along with Congress. Uddhav is a key leader of the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc.
Raj’s entry into the MVA is a critical question as he is known for his anti-migrant anti-loudspeaker stance.
Incidentally, the the Raj-Uddhav meeting comes days after a Congress delegation comprising CWC member Balasaheb Thorat, CLP leader Vijay Wadettiwar and Congress MLA Amin Patel met him in Matoshree to discussion the vacant positions of the Leader of the Opposition in both the Houses of Maharashtra Legislature.
For the past few days, there have been reports that Uddhav will invite Raj for the Shiv Sena (UBT) annual Dussehra rally, however, as of now, that seems remote as Raj commands a separate party and addresses the annual rally during Gudi Padwa.