Thackeray Cousins To Contest Mumbai, Other Civic Polls Together: Sanjay Raut

The civic polls in Mumbai and other key cities will see cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, earlier not on amicable terms, form an alliance, said Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut.

"The Thackeray brothers (Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray) will contest the municipal corporation elections in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Kalyan-Dombivali together and win. The strength of Raj and Uddhav Thackeray is the strength of the unity of the Marathi-speakers. No power cannot break the iron fist of `Marathi manus' now," Raut told reporters.

Civic polls are due in Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivali, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi-Nizamapur, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar and Panvel, apart from other cities like Nashik. Mr Raut said Uddhav and Raj Thackeray have the support of the Marathi-speaking population, adding that discussions are on between Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leaders on the way forward.

Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Girish Mahajan said anyone can separate or unite in a democracy. "They should win the elections in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik first, and then talk any further," he said. Bharat Gogavale, a leader of the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, will win all civic polls.

Two decades after Raj Thackeray quit the Shiv Sena, talks of a Raj-Uddhav reunion began in April as discussions on the Marathi identity and Hindi "imposition" in Maharashtra gained momentum. The fight for language also likely poses a political opportunity for the fledgling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, smarting from the 15 per cent vote share it garnered in the Assembly elections last year, as the Mahayuti marched to a comfortable victory. The MNS ended with a blank slate.

The civic polls, especially in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which the Uddhav Sena considers its citadel, are thus a matter of prestige for the Shiv Sena (UBT). The state government's flip-flop on the three-language policy and the introduction of Hindi as a third language proved a galvanising force for the parties led by the cousins.

In the run-up to these municipal elections, the brothers have already shared the stage at a victory rally in Mumbai earlier this month to celebrate the rollback of the Hindi language GRs (resolutions) by the BJP-led government. "We have come together to stay together. We will together capture power in the Mumbai civic body and Maharashtra," Uddhav Thackeray said, evoking loud cheers from the crowd in the packed NSCI Dome in Worli.

Raj Thackeray said that, after the language row, the government's next move in politics will be to divide people on caste. "The BJP's ploy is to divide and rule," he charged.

"Mumbai was our right, we fought and got it. We have to expose the BJP's 'one nation, one election' idea. Slowly, they want to make everything one. Hindu and Hindustan, we agree but we won't allow Hindi. We made Marathi compulsory, we had to do it," Uddhav Thackeray had added.