Following a string 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 Mr. Thackeray amid swirling rumours of a possible alliance between the ruling Shiv Sena (Shinde faction)-BJP and the MNS ahead of the crucial civic elections in the State.
As in the previous meetings, the reason was downplayed with Mr. Shinde stating that had merely come to attend the Ganpati darshan at Mr. 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 the State, Mr. 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 Mr. Thackeray at his residence for Ganpati darshan.”
Stating that the visit was purely “a courtesy call”, Mr. Shinde said that as Mr. Thackeray had had a hip replacement surgery, 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’: Mr. Thackeray, the estranged cousin of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, had caused a major rupture within Bal Thackeray’s party after he exited the Sena in 2006 and found the MNS.
Mr. Shinde’s recent intra-party revolt, which brought down Uddhav Thackeray’s three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi government, is the most serious rebellion within the Sena following that of Raj Thackeray’s.
“We talked of old times…After all, we have all worked in the shadow of Bal Thackeray’s guidance for many years,” said Mr. Shinde after the meeting.
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) election.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule met with the MNS chief at ‘Shivtirth’. Earlier on Saturday, Mr. 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 Mr. Fadnavis in less than a month.
In every case, the BJP leaders downplayed their meetings with Mr. 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.
The Shiv Sena 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 its ideological direction since 2019 by veering towards ‘Hindutva’ politics, signalled by Mr. Thackeray’s adoption of a saffron flag incorporating Chhatrapati Shivaji’s royal seal or ‘Rajmudra’ in 2020.
Since then, Raj Thackeray’s party has inched ever closer to the BJP in an attempt on the MNS’s part to seize the ‘Hindutva’ space from the Shiv Sena led by ex-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 snare 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 and the BJP are eager for an alliance with the MNS.
