Maharashtra: Amid MNS-Sena (UBT) alliance buzz, CM Fadnavis meets Raj Thackeray
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and MNS head Raj Thackeray met at a hotel in Mumbai on Thursday morning.
The meeting comes amid speculation over rapprochement between Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his politically estranged cousin Raj Thackeray, who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
Senior BJP leader Fadnavis and Raj Thackeray met at a five-star hotel in Bandra area here in the morning, sources confirmed but declined to elaborate.
When contacted, BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said the two leaders are good friends and may have met to discuss development issues related to the state.
The Maharashtra government this week set in motion the process of holding the local body polls by issuing orders for ward delimitation for 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai.
There has been speculation about a possible reconciliation between the Thackeray brothers ahead of the polls.
The estranged Thackeray cousins sparked the buzz with their recent statements indicating they could ignore "trivial issues" and join hands nearly two decades after a bitter parting of ways.
While Raj Thackeray has said uniting in the interest of "Marathi manoos" (Marathi-speaking people) is not difficult, Uddhav has insisted he is ready to put aside trivial fights, provided those working against Maharashtra's interests are not entertained.
Raj Thackeray extended support to the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but his party contested the state assembly polls in November last year on its own.
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Indian Express
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Why everyone wants Raj Thackeray: MNS chief's meeting with Fadnavis sparks Maharashtra poll buzz
Two months after hinting at a political rapprochement with estranged cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has once again stumped political pundits with a surprise meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at a plush Mumbai hotel on Thursday. After the Raj-Fadnavis meeting, Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat, seen as a close aide of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, added another layer of intrigue to the buzz. 'One can see many U-turns in politics. Nothing can be predicted about what can happen in politics. Such alliances have to be made to strengthen a party or expand it. We had given an offer (of alliance) to Raj saheb before and looking at his appeal, he can very well fight the civic body polls. He should come with us (Mahayuti),' he said. 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Three years later, the party made a spectacular debut in the Assembly polls, winning 13 seats with a 5.75% vote share. However, the momentum proved difficult to sustain, and over the next decade he oscillated from alliance to alliance. In 2014, the MNS leader supported Narendra Modi, but five years later, attacked him while campaigning for the Congress-NCP combine. In 2019, he backed Modi again and even shared the stage with him in the run-up to the Assembly polls. Last year, he publicly expressed his willingness to work with Uddhav, only to be seen having discussions with Fadnavis. While critics term Thackeray's moves as indecisiveness or political opportunism, the MNS chief calls them 'pragmatic shifts'. 'The only party, apart from the Shiv Sena, that I shared a relationship with is the BJP. I often met leaders like Pramod Mahajan and other leaders from the Sangh,' he told a Marathi channel in 2023. 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The BJP views the MNS chief as a strategic disruptor who draws his support from the same Marathi-speaking electorate that forms Uddhav's core voter base, and believes that his attacks are far more effective given their family ties. It dilutes the Sena (UBT)'s presence in urban areas and helps the BJP as well as the Shiv Sena win tightly contested seats. Another factor that sits well with the BJP is Thackeray's non-insistence on demanding a significant share in seat-sharing, unlike the Shiv Sena. This makes the MNS chief a manageable partner who can be brought in to boost the BJP's Marathi appeal with almost no friction. Backing Raj Thackeray also serves the BJP's long-term goal of keeping in check Shinde's rising popularity across the state.
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Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : ABVP Ahmedabad Plane Crash BJP Vijay Rupani First Published: June 13, 2025, 11:03 IST
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