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Mumbai: Following a rollercoaster of meetings between Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday called on Raj Thackeray at the latter’s residence. The series of meetings have only fuelled the rumour mills of a possible alliance between the ruling Shiv Sena (Shinde faction)- BJP and the MNS ahead of the crucial civic polls in the State.
As was the refrain in the previous meetings, the reason for them was once again downplayed with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde vehemently arguing that he had merely come to attend the Ganpati darshan at Raj Thackeray’s residence ‘Shivtirth’ in Mumbai’s Dadar area as part of the ongoing Ganesha festivities.
When asked about the possibility of ‘a new political equation’ taking root in Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde remarked: “As there was no political discussion, the question of a new political equation coming into being doesn’t arise… an atmosphere of bonhomie and enthusiasm pervades the State on occasion of Ganesha festivities. As we keep going to each other’s places for darshan, so I visited Raj Thackeray at his residence for Ganpati darshan.”
Arguing that his visit was purely “a courtesy call”, Eknath Shinde said that as Raj Thackeray recently had a hip replacement surgery and the visit also served as an occasion to enquire about the MNS chief’s health.
It was a meeting between two of the most prominent Shiv Sena ‘rebels’, Raj Thackeray, the estranged cousin of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, had caused a major rupture within the late Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray’s party after he exited the Sena in 2006 and founded the MNS.
Eknath Shinde’s recent intra-party revolt, which brought down the Uddhav Thackeray led three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state, is the most serious rebellion within the Shiv Sena following that of Raj Thackeray in 2006.
Speaking to newspersons after their meeting, Shinde remarked, “We talked of old times…After all, we have all worked in the shadow of Balasaheb Thackeray’s guidance for many years.”
Since last week, the MNS chief has met with one top BJP leader in the State after another, sparking widespread speculation of a possible alliance between the BJP and the MNS ahead of the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC) poll.
On August 30, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule met with the MNS chief at the latter’s residence ‘Shivtirth’. Earlier on August 27, Raj Thackeray had met with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis at the latter’s ‘Sagar’ bungalow in Mumbai. This was his second meeting with Fadnavis in less than a month.
In every case, the BJP leaders downplayed their meetings with Raj Thackeray as a mere “courtesy call” while denying any political angle to it.
With the BMC poll expected to be held in October, the newly formed Sena (Eknath Shinde-faction)- BJP government is going all out to wrest control of the cash-rich Mumbai civic body from Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena faction.
Prior to Eknath Shinde’s revolt that vertically split the Shiv Sena, the party has controlled the BMC (as well as its powerful standing committee) for more than two decades now with Sena Mayors at the helm of affairs.
The MNS has changed tracks in its ideological direction since 2019 by veering towards ‘Hindutva’ politics, signalled with Raj Thackeray adopting a saffron flag incorporating Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s royal seal or ‘Rajmudra’ in 2020.
Since then, Raj Thackeray’s party has inched ever closer to the BJP in an attempt to seize the ‘Hindutva’ space from the Shiv Sena led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
To this end, the BJP and the Shinde faction feel that if they can secure an alliance with the MNS, then they could split a large portion of the core Marathi-speaking vote-bank in Mumbai city and undercut the Uddhav Thackeray faction. According to sources, a number of leaders within the Shinde-led Sena faction and the BJP were eager for an alliance with the MNS.
