Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray, with his brother and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray, during a joint rally after the Maharashtra government revoked two GRs on the 3-language policy, in Mumbai on July 5 2025
| Photo Credit: ANI
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) head Raj Thackeray met again on Sunday (October 5, 2025), this time for a personal event, amid speculation about the cousins allying for the upcoming local body polls.
The Thackeray cousins attended the naming ceremony of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut’s grandchild in Mumbai.
Videos of Mr. Raj, Mr.Uddhav and his MLA son Aaditya Thackeray, along with Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Anil Desai and Milind Narvekar chatting in a playful mood surfaced on social media.
The meetings between Mr. Raj and Mr. Uddhav have become more frequent after their July 5 ‘victory’ rally to celebrate the Maharashtra government’s rollback of its contentious orders on the three-language formula for students of classes 1 to 5 amid charges of imposition of Hindi in the state dominated by Marathi speakers.
In September 2025, former State Chief Minister Mr. Uddhav visited the MNS President’s residence ‘Shivtirth’ in the Dadar area in Mumbai to meet the latter’s mother, Kunda ‘Mavshi’ (mother’s sister). Both Mr. Raj and Mr. Uddhav are maternal as well as paternal cousins. Mr. Uddhav visited ‘Shivtirth’ in August previously on Ganesh festival.
In the end of July, Mr. Raj visited ‘Matoshree’, the residence of Mr. Uddhav in Mumbai’s Bandra area, to wish the latter on his birthday. Although Mr. Raj quit the undivided Shiv Sena in 2005, blaming Mr. Uddhav for his exit, the drubbing of their parties in the 2024 assembly polls appears to have pushed the rivals to improve ties.
Both parties have dropped enough hints of forging an alliance for the upcoming polls to local bodies, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), but have not yet announced a formal tie-up.
If the alliance happens, the BJP, a fierce critic of the Shiv Sena (UBT), will be its main rival. The Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) are partners in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Amid the buzz over their pan-Maharashtra alliance, the Sena (UBT) and MNS faced a setback in August in the election to the BEST Employees Cooperative Credit Society Ltd., where the panel backed by the two parties lost all 21 seats up for grabs.
Published – October 05, 2025 05:34 pm IST
