The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will announce on Wednesday their alliance for the January 15 civic elections, people familiar with the matter said.
The announcement follows marathon meetings between the two sides over the past few weeks to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement for elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut alluded to the proposed joint press conference in a post on X; a throwback photo of the two Thackeray cousins from July 27 when Raj visited Uddhav at his Bandra residence to wish him on his birthday.
In an accompanying caption, Raut said: “Tomorrow at 12 o’clock”.
Leaders from both parties said Raj Thackeray had been keen to complete the seat-sharing talks before announcing the formal alliance, which delayed the formal announcement.
There were differences between the two sides in seat allocation in the Dadar, Mahim, Borivali, Vikhroli, Bhandup, and Sewri areas of Mumbai. Although the two parties are primarily focusing on Mumbai, the alliance is also likely to contest civic polls in Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nashik, and other cities. In all, 29 cities in Maharashtra will go to the polls on January 15.
The alliance between the two parties came against the backdrop of the 2024 assembly election when they underperformed; the Shiv Sena (UBT) won just 20. Both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS underperformed in the assembly elections held last year. While Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, the MNS drew a blank.
An effort to bring the two estranged cousins together began soon after. On July 5, the two brothers shared a stage in public for the first time in nearly two decades, at a rally in Worli to celebrate the Mahayuti government’s decision to roll back its controversial order introducing Hindi as a third language in primary schools across Maharashtra, following protests by the two parties. On July 27, he visited Uddhav to wish him on his birthday.
Raj quit the undivided Shiv Sena in 2005 over apparent differences with Uddhav and formed the MNS. The relationship grew bitter over the years, but the political realities in the state forced them to set aside their differences.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab said the two parties had scheduled the announcement for Wednesday because the Uddhav-led Sena expected to finalise its pact with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) by Tuesday evening.’’
The Congress has refused to join the alliance due to MNS’s past anti-migrant agitations.
Sena (UBT) leaders said there were 40 BMC seats where neither party had candidates, and that a decision on who would contest and which candidate to field would be made.
BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban said the alliance was not born out of the people’s trust, but out of fear of defeat. “This alliance is not a meeting of minds, but a reflection of deep differences. It is an act of coming together only for elections, by drawing a curtain over ideological disagreements, leadership egos, and past bitterness. But Mumbaikars will reject this political drama. The very same people who claimed to do politics in the name of the Marathi people were, until yesterday, attacking each other personally, ideologically, and politically. This sudden display of “brotherhood” is the biggest U-turn in politics,” said Ban.