Amidst talk of Thackeray cousins reunion, CM meets Raj

MUMBAI: CM Fadnavis met MNS chief Raj Thackeray, fueling speculation of a potential alliance ahead of 2025 local elections amid Thackeray cousins' reunion talks.

MUMBAI Amid a swirl of speculations of the Thackeray cousins putting aside their differences and reuniting, ahead of the local body elections planned in the latter half of 2025, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a closed door meeting with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday afternoon at Taj Lands End, Bandra, stoking rumours of his attempt to put a spoke in the wheels of an Uddhav-Raj pact.

Amidst talk of Thackeray cousins reunion, CM meets Raj

While leaders of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and MNS remained tight-lipped about what transpired between the two leaders, people in the know told HT that the meeting was not on Fadnavis’s schedule for the day; he eked out time for it out-of-turn.

Raj Thackeray reached the hotel at around 9.40 am and Fadnavis at around 10.30 am, and left after an hour.

Soon after their meeting, Sandeep Deshpande, MNS Mumbai chief, visited the residence of industries minister and Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant which further fuelled speculations that both BJP and Shiv Sena were in talks with Raj for an alliance, ahead of the civic polls. Political equations in the state may change if the estranged cousins reunite – it will consolidate the Marathi vote-bank in Mumbai and neighbouring areas.

Not willing to give away much, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule told the media that it would be “inappropriate to give the meeting a political colour until more details emerge”.

“No one knows why the duo met today. During the Lok Sabha elections, Raj Thackeray had taken a clear stand of supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third term at the Centre. We do not know what his stand would be this time (for the local body polls). If he (Raj) comes up with a stand for the development of Mumbai, we will work on it,” said Bawankule.

Like Bawankule, Deshpande also said, “I don’t know why they met and what was discussed.”

Social justice minister and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat however said while it would be wrong to draw conclusions from this meeting now, his “party was interested in forging an alliance with MNS”.

“One can see many U-turns in politics. Nothing can be predicted about what can happen in politics. Such alliances have to be done 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),” Shirsat said.

Leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT) however reacted cautiously, with both Uddhav Thackeray and party leader Anil Parab repeatedly voicing optimism about an alliance with MNS.

“Workers of both parties are in favour of the reunion of Thackeray cousins. Now it is up to Raj Thackeray to decide if he wants to fulfil the wish of Maharashtra or choose some other path,” said Parab, adding that the chief minister’s meeting with Raj shows “BJP’s lack of confidence about winning the BMC election”.

(With agency inputs)