Thackeray cousins come together

The sudden meeting between estranged Thackeray cousins — Uddhav and Raj — has set tongues in political circles wagging. While Shiv Sena said that it was only a courtesy meeting in which Raj greeted Uddhav over his birthday, party insiders claimed that a discussion was held on Uddhav’s elder brother Jaidev, who has challenged the validity of late Balasaheb Thackeray’s will in the Bombay high court.

On Friday morning, MNS supremo Raj Thackeray called on Shiv Sena chief Uddhav at Matoshree, his residence at Bandra. The meeting lasted for 45 minutes. It is speculated that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, due in February 2017, were also on the meeting’s agenda. Sources said that the meeting was unplanned.

Even Bala Nandgaonkar, former MNS legislator and a close confidante of Raj, claimed that he was not aware of the meeting.

“I was unaware of the meeting till the last moment. Raj saheb did not tell me that he was going to Matoshree to meet Uddhav saheb. He simply asked me to sit in the car. Whenever there is a family issue, they have always come together,” said Mr Nandgaonkar.

In the backdrop of the previous meeting between Uddhav and his MLAs, his meeting with Raj has fuelled several rumours of a possible alliance between the two in the future.

Sources said that apart from the upcoming elections, Raj and Uddhav also discussed Balasaheb Thackeray’s will in the meeting. Jaidev has filed a case against Uddhav in the Bombay HC regarding the will.

Uddhav is not on good terms with Jaidev, however Raj shares a cordial relationship with the latter. Sources even hinted that the cousins discussed the matter in the closed-door meeting.

The estranged cousins have met several times in the past too. They met when Uddhav was hospitalised following an accident and also when Raj returned to Matoshree to return Bal Thackeray’s books. The duo also met on Balasaheb Thackeray’s death anniversary on November 17, 2014.

According to sources, the meeting was a strategic move by Uddhav to let the BJP know that they have started looking for allies if the BJP did not change its approach towards Sena leaders.

The upcoming BMC election is crucial for Shiv Sena as they want to retain their bastion on its own. It is seen that Marathi votes get divided between Shiv Sena and MNS, which many times benefit Congress and NCP.

In order to stop this division of votes, many attempts were earlier made by several leaders to get Uddhav and Raj together, but they proved unsuccessful.