Uddhav meets Raj amid alliance buzz between Sena UBT and MNS

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday visited his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray here amid the buzz of an alliance between the two parties.

A meeting between the two party chiefs and their leaders was held at ‘Shivtirth', the residence of Raj Thackeray located in the city's Dadar area.

This was the second public interaction between the two once-estranged cousins in the past two weeks. Uddhav had visited Shivtirth last month on the occasion of the Ganesh festival.

The two had shared a stage on July 5 in Mumbai to celebrate their “victory” after the Maharashtra government rolled back its contentious orders on three-language formula for students of Classes 1 to 5 amid charges of imposition of Hindi in the state dominated by Marathi speakers.

In July-end, Raj visited ‘Matoshree', the residence of Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra, to wish the latter on his birthday.

Although Raj quit the undivided Shiv Sena in 2005, blaming Uddhav for his exit, the drubbing of their parties in the 2024 Assembly polls appears to have pushed the rivals to improve ties.

Both parties have dropped enough hints of forging an alliance for the upcoming local body polls, including elections to the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), but have not yet announced a formal tie-up. If it happens, the BJP will be its main adversary.

Asked about the latest meeting between the Sena (UBT) chief and MNS president, BJP's Mumbai unit chief and MLA Ameet Satam on Wednesday said citizens are more concerned about development than family meetings between political leaders.

“It is not about who is meeting whom and their family-related bonding, but it is more about who constructed Atal Setu, the Coastal Road, the redevelopment of BDD chawls in Worli and neighbouring areas, and who set up a vast network of CCTV cameras across Mumbai. These are the key issues, and Mumbaikars will vote on that basis,” Satam told reporters.

He said people from across the city have supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in past elections and will continue to do so.

“The Union and state governments also expedited the Navi Mumbai International Airport. Citizens want this pace of development, which was never offered during the 25 years of rule by others. Just meetings between cousins have no political value; people are more interested in who will solve their problems,” he added.

BJP MLC Pravin Darekar also downplayed the meeting.

“As a junior political worker, I would be delighted to see the two cousins come together, as Maharashtra has a history of civil discourse and aligning with like-minded groups. But it is not the time to speak of their alliance,” Darekar said.

He sought to know what Uddhav Thackeray's position would be in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) if he chose to align with Raj Thackeray. “There is no point in rushing to claim that their alliance will bring Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS to power in the BMC,” he said.

Sena (UBT), Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) are partners in the Opposition bloc MVA.

Amid a buzz over their pan-Maharashtra alliance, the Sena (UBT) and MNS faced a setback last month in the election to the BEST Employees Cooperative Credit Society Ltd, when the panel backed by the two parties lost all 21 seats.