To counter the influence of Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP has extended an olive branch to his cousin Raj Thackeray.Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday accused the BJP of trying to “steal a Thackeray” as it’s the Thackeray name that gets votes in Maharashtra. The charge followed a meeting between Raj Thackeray and Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief, also Thackeray’s estranged cousin, showed up in Delhi after being “called”.
Addressing a gathering in Nanded district, Uddhav Thackeray said the BJP is well aware that their electoral success in Maharashtra isn’t tied to PM Narendra Modi’s name, but rather to the legacy of Bal Thackeray.
“BJP knows very well that they don’t get votes in the name of PM Narendra Modi in Maharashtra. People vote here in the name of (Bal) Thackeray. This realisation prompted the BJP to try to steal leaders from outside (BJP fold),” he said.
Thackeray’s Shiv Sena was split over the legacy of party founder Bal Thackeray, engineered by Eknath Shinde, who accused Thackeray of straying from Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva ideology. Shinde’s rebellion led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray’s Aghadi government, after which he aligned with the BJP and became the chief minister.
“First, they stole the photo of Bal Thackeray, but it doesn’t matter. Today, they are trying to steal another Thackeray. Take it, I and my people are enough,” he said while concluding his two-day tour of Nanded and Hingoli districts in the Marathwada region.
Asserting his party’s position within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi and the INDIA bloc, Thackeray claimed support from Christians and Muslims for their brand of Hindutva, stating that the image of Shiv Sena improved after severing ties with the BJP.
“The image of Shiv Sena (undivided) was getting sullied when we were with the BJP. But since we severed ties with them, even members of Christian and Muslim communities are saying that they have no issues with our Hindutva ideology,” he added.
Founded in 2006 after Raj Thackeray’s departure from the Shiv Sena due to differences with Uddhav, the MNS experienced electoral success in the 2009 Assembly polls, winning 13 seats. However, its fortunes declined in subsequent elections, with the party winning just one seat in the 2014 polls and maintaining the same tally in 2019.
Raj Thackeray’s history of contentious remarks, particularly those targeting North Indians, has previously drawn sharp rebukes from leaders across the political spectrum, including the BJP.
However, understanding the complexity of this political terrain at the moment, the BJP is leaving nothing to chance in Maharashtra, a state critical to its target of securing 370 Lok Sabha seats. To counter the influence of Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP has extended an olive branch to his cousin Raj Thackeray.
Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar described the talks as “positive”. Reports suggest that the MNS is angling for three specific seats – South Mumbai, Shirdi, and Nashik – as part of the prospective alliance.