By News18
It was a star-studded Saturday in Mumbai as estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray shared the stage after two decades, marking a paradigm shift in Maharashtra鈥檚 politics. The event titled 鈥楢waj Marathicha鈥 (Voice of the Marathi) was the first time since 2005 that the cousins鈥攅mbroiled in a bitter legacy battle鈥攃ame together in a show of unity as the Maharashtra government scrapped two GRs to introduce Hindi as the third language in the state under the New Education Policy.
The political gathering, however, also made news for a special guest鈥擭ationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Supriya Sule. Though her party was not officially part of the rally, the NCP (SCP) is an alliance partner of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena.
#WATCH | Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son and party leader Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s son and party leader Amit Thackeray also present at the stage where both parties are holding a joint rally after the鈥 pic.twitter.com/ACD5u9aOaD
鈥 ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2025
Speaking to news agency PTI on Friday, Sule had said her father and NCP (SP) patriarch Sharad Pawar would not attend the rally due to pre-existing engagements.
Sule鈥檚 presence, ironically, threw light on the absence of the Congress from the event. Congress sources had said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut had extended an invite to the party鈥檚 state unit president Harshwardhan Sapkal but he decided to skip it due to Raj Thackeray鈥檚 鈥渋nconsistent鈥 political stand.
鈥楢GAINST HINDI IMPOSITION鈥
Raj Thackeray, while taking a dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, said he achieved what Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray couldn鈥檛 do鈥攗nite the cousins.
鈥淚 had said in one of my interviews that my Maharashtra is bigger than any politics and fight. Today, after 20 years, Uddhav and I have come together. What Balasaheb could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did it. The work of bringing both of us together,鈥 he said.
On the Hindi imposition issue, Raj Thackeray said he had no issues with the language but pointed out that the Maratha empire did not impose Marathi over the vast regions it ruled.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have anything against Hindi, no language is bad. It takes a lot of effort to build a language. We Marathi people ruled over a lot of states during the Maratha Empire, but we never enforced Marathi on those parts,鈥 he said.
Uddhav Thackeray, meanwhile, made pitched for 鈥渢ogetherness鈥 ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, as he said he and his cousin will capture power in the Mumbai civic body and then the state.
With the BMC elections on the horizon, the reunion of the estranged cousins is being viewed not merely as a cultural demonstration, but as a strategically significant political move ahead of the polls.