On July 6, 2025, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray got a place on the front page. faceMouthpiece of Shiv Sena (UBT). The strap above the masthead of the broadsheet showed two cousins, Uddhav and Raj, arm-in-arm and called out, “Historic! Joy across Maharashtra!”
The first page was dedicated to stories of the cousins’ show of unity, their appeal to the Marathi people and how reunification would impact the state. “We have come together to live together!”, “Thackeray has stood up for the Marathi mother!” The titles said. At that time, they had not formally announced their coming together.
The previous day, the two had met at the Worli Dome, a theatre-in-the-round, when they decided to celebrate the day as Marathi Vijay Diwas to commemorate the Maharashtra government’s withdrawal of the three-language policy in primary education, which would have forced children to learn Hindi.
Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, and common friend of Thackeray, who was instrumental in bringing them back together, says, “It was a moment when Marathi human being (People) were waiting. ‘The Thackeray family should unite for Marathi, for Mumbai, for Maharashtra,’ is the sentiment of many Marathi families. That dream has come true.” He described it as an emotional moment of the breakup that happened two decades ago.
On Christmas Eve 2025, the cousins announced the electoral alliance between Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for the January 15 municipal elections. While these are to be fought across 29 cities, the cousins have mainly joined hands for Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Nashik, in what is being seen as a fight for survival.
Cousins Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief, and Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief, during a press conference in Mumbai, after announcing their alliance for the upcoming municipal elections. , Photo courtesy: The Hindu
The family appeared at the press conference to announce their political alliance. Rashmi Uddhav Thackeray and Sharmila Raj Thackeray were sitting next to each other on chairs next to the stage.
Before the two posed for photographs together, Raut stood between Uddhav and a slightly stern Raj. At the venue there was a large photograph of the two cousins with Balasaheb sitting in the middle and holding them like adults. Soon, party leaders climbed the stage to hand over bouquets and felicitate him.
This family saga spanning three generations has all the makings of a Bollywood blockbuster: family drama, high emotions, mystery, mistrust and action. Set in Mumbai, the plot begins 60 years ago in erstwhile Bombay with the formation of a political party and a big thinker. The charismatic Balasaheb Thackeray, who created the Shiv Sena in 1966 on the issue of ‘sons of the soil’, renamed Bombay as Mumbai after the goddess Mumbadevi.
sharing and compromising
On 24 December, both called for the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, setting the stage for their joint political agenda of regional linguistic identity and the perceived threat to this identity by ‘outsiders’. He talked about how these forces want to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra. This script was similar to Balasaheb’s appeal during the formation of Shiv Sena, which he framed as a growing threat of loss of livelihood and cultural identity to the Maharashtrian people. Marathi Manus coup unites people on linguistics rather than religion.
However, where Balasaheb targeted people from South India and Gujaratis, the changing demography of Mumbai, with many immigrants from North India, results in current ‘outsiders’. According to rough estimates by political parties, in line with the 2011 census, the Marathi-speaking population of Mumbai is more than 30%.
“The basic ideology of the formation of Shiv Sena was Marathi itself human beingYes, after that Bala Saheb adopted the stand of Hindutva, other things happened, But Thackeray always had a Marathi man in his heart,” says Raut, Uddhav and Raj’s grandfather ‘Prabodhankar’ Thackeray were prominent in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, which ultimately led to Mumbai being annexed to Maharashtra in 1960,
The cousins did not raise many questions about the alliance for the January 15 local body elections. “We will not tell you who will contest on how many seats,” Raj said in a hall packed with journalists at a hotel on the Worli promenade. The crowd broke out.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections hold special significance for the Shiv Sena (UBT). Traditionally, Thackeray has controlled the BMC, the country’s richest civic body. The situation changed in 2017, when BJP got only two seats less than Shiv Sena. BMC elections are pending from 2022.
Sources say that out of 227 seats in the BMC elections, Uddhav’s party will contest 163 seats and Raj’s on 53 seats. Sharad Pawar’s NCP, which is with Uddhav, is also at the seat-sharing table with 11 seats. “They wanted a respectable seat share. Our situation is also challenging because we have sitting councilors in many of these places. But Uddhavji has decided that he will make adjustments,” says a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.
An MNS leader says, “Raj Saheb has told party workers that they should not prolong things. We are ready to compromise.” A total of 2,869 corporators will be elected in these elections, the results of which will be declared on January 16.
breakup years
It is believed that Raj inherited the aura and oratory skills of his uncle Balasaheb. Balasaheb’s son Uddhav was known as a calm organization man who maintained discipline in the party. In 2003, Raj had supported Uddhav’s name as the working president of the party in Mahabaleshwar despite growing tensions between the cousins. This was a year when Balasaheb named Uddhav as the working president.
In 2005, Raj left the Shiv Sena after a public outcry when he called a press conference to announce his resignation, and said in an emotional tone, “All I asked for was respect… All I got was insults and humiliation.”
He said in reference to Balasaheb, “I have no grudge against my Vitthal. I have a problem with the group that wants to control everything.” People close to Balasaheb called him Vitthal. Violence followed, as the cadre felt divided between the two cousins. Famously, when now peacemaker Raut tried to convince Raj against quitting Shiv Sena, Raj’s angry supporters vandalized and razed Raut’s car.
Most of the old leaders stayed with Balasaheb and Uddhav and some went with Raj. The feeling among Raj’s supporters was that he was being treated unfairly and was not being given his due, and that he was Balasaheb’s rightful political heir. Uddhav’s supporters said that he is building organizational strength. At that time, several top BJP leaders also tried to intervene to prevent the cousins from separating. it did not work.
The following year, Raj established the Navnirman Sena. In 2014, after differences between Shiv Sena and BJP, there were murmurs again, but Raj had then blamed Uddhav for failing to respond.
In 2022, Eknath Shinde, a grassroots organiser, broke with Uddhav to form a government with the BJP along with 40 MLAs.
Uddhav and Raj have often taken a dig at their working style, leadership qualities and ideological strength. Uddhav believed that Raj had helped BJP by cutting Shiv Sena’s votes. He had said in 2024, “First, they stole the picture of Bal Thackeray… today they are trying to steal the picture of another Thackeray. Take it, I and my people are enough.” Raj had called Uddhav an ”accidental Chief Minister”.
blood and water under the bridge
However, from the first quarter of 2025, something changed. He said in separate public appearances that he was willing to put aside his problems ‘in the interest of Maharashtra’. The BJP alliance is now in power in Maharashtra and this statement has come amid the declining political fortunes of both.
In the state assembly elections held in 2024, Shiv Sena (UBT), which had fielded candidates on more than 90 seats, won 20 seats, which is less than 10% percent of the lower house’s strength of 288. However, in the Lok Sabha elections held the same year, Shiv Sena (UBT) won nine of the 21 seats on which it fielded candidates. Maharashtra has 48 seats in Parliament.
MNS has faced consecutive legislative defeats, except in the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections, which was the first state election for the party since its formation. Then among the 13 MLAs, the party has no representation in the Assembly. It had only one MLA in the 2014 and 2019 elections. MNS also has no representation in Parliament.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab says, “When there is any external threat, the family unites. This is the tradition of Maharashtra. Here, the family has united politically as well.” Parab says, “The cousins have different qualities. Raj’s oratory is charismatic. For a political party to flourish, it has to be disciplined, its organizational strength has to be increased. Uddhav does this very well.”
A Shiv Sena (UBT) party worker from Sion says, “Blood is thicker than water. After all, it is the family that stands with each other. We have no grudge against Raj Saheb now.” He told how he had taken part in the violence that broke out between supporters of the two leaders outside Shiv Sena Bhawan in 2006.
Another leader highlighted the family’s hold on the conservative, regional and dynastic political landscape of Maharashtra. Both the parties have till now been fighting for the same vote bank, facing each other in the same Marathi-strong areas.
next generation
In the first two phases of the city’s local body elections last month, Shiv Sena UBT was elected president on nine of the 288 municipal councils and nagar panchayats. “We do not give importance to elections fought with such money power. We had left these elections to our local cadres, who could not withstand the misuse of money and power. More than Rs 100 crore was spent here by the ruling parties. Where were we supposed to get this money from?” Raut says.
On January 2, the last day to withdraw candidature for the civic polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA, Uddhav’s son, Aaditya Thackeray; and MNS’s Raj’s son Amit Thackeray held a joint workshop for prospective corporators. Their main campaign is to provide ₹1,500 monthly assistance for registered female domestic workers. He also announced support for women of the Koli fishing community and relief on property tax.
The next day, 68 candidates of the Mahayuti alliance – BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) are unopposed in the Maharashtra civic elections. Due to this the opposition including the cousin has united. Now, both Shiv Sena and MNS factions are fighting for the same pie.
vinaya.deshpande@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunalini Mathew
