For the first time in 13 years, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray entered the Matoshree - the storied residence of the Thackerays in Mumbai - to celebrate cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's birthday. Raj had last entered the residence in 2012 at the time of Balasaheb Thackeray's death.
Raj was accompanied by MNS leaders Bala Nandgaonkar and Nitin Sardesai.
The two cousins, Raj and Uddhav, clicked a picture inside Matoshree with Balasaheb's frame in the background. Another picture shows Raj handing a bouquet of flowers to his cousin on his birthday.
A video shows Uddhav cutting his birthday cake with his family and Sena leaders singing 'Happy Birthday' in Hindi. Raj, however, was not seen in the clip.
The estranged cousins-turned-comrades reunited earlier this month by sharing a political stage for the first time in two decades on the issue of Marathi identity and "imposition" of the Hindi language. They addressed a "victory" rally together in Worli, during which Uddhav hinted at contesting the upcoming civic elections together.
"We have come together to stay together. We will together capture power in the Mumbai civic body and Maharashtra," the former Chief Minister said, evoking loud cheers from the crowd.
Before Uddhav, Raj quipped that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has managed to do what Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray and others couldn't by bringing the two cousins together.
Raj had quit the Shiv Sena in 2005 over differences with Uddhav and formed his own party - the MNS. Since then, they had contested elections against each other. Their July 5 reunion came amid the growing chorus for it after the BJP expanded its footprint on the political landscape of Maharashtra and joined hands with Eknath Shinde, who split Shiv Sena in 2022.
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