Mumbai, April 20: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that “emotional talks” were ongoing between party chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin, MNS President Raj Thackeray, amid renewed speculation of a political reunion after two decades.
“There’s no formal alliance yet. Emotional conversations are happening—they meet at family functions, they are brothers,” Raut said, adding that no conditions had been set for a future tie-up.
He reiterated that both leaders shared a common agenda of working for Maharashtra’s interests—something the BJP, he claimed, did not fit into. Raut also blamed the BJP for the Shiv Sena split, calling the party an “enemy of Maharashtra.”
Meanwhile, MNS Mumbai chief and spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande warned that any alliance must be rooted in defending Marathi identity. “People want the brothers to unite, but how can that happen if Uddhav doesn’t support us on the Marathi cause?” he said.
Deshpande demanded that Uddhav Thackeray apologise for allowing police cases against 17,000 MNS workers during his chief ministership over the mosque loudspeaker protests.
The reunion chatter intensified after Raj Thackeray, in a podcast with filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar, said he had no personal issues with Uddhav in the undivided Sena, and was open to working together again.
Responding to the remarks, Uddhav said he was willing to let go of old disputes as long as no support was given to those working against Maharashtra’s interests—an apparent dig at the Eknath Shinde-led Sena and BJP.
Raj Thackeray had recently met Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, further adding intrigue to the shifting political currents in Maharashtra.
