Walkathon campaign to unite Thackeray cousins a damn squib

The much-publicised silent march –Thackeray Jodo Andolan – to unite the warring Thackeray cousins by some Shiv Sena activists on Sunday turned out to be lackluster event. HT reports.

The much-publicised silent march –Thackeray Jodo Andolan – to unite the warring Thackeray cousins by some Shiv Sena activists on Sunday turned out to be lackluster event.

HT Image

The reason — both the leaders championing the rights of the Maharashtrians refused the truce offered and struck to their stance.

While Raj was away in Pune, his cadres did not even accept the bouquet of flowers from well wishers. Uddhav, however, met the activists but refused to accept their memorandum and admonished them for this task.

The activists under the banner of ‘Mazhi Chalval, Me Maharashtracha’ argue that the rivalry between the cousins was adversely affecting the Maharashtrian cause.

Uddhav dismissed the argument saying that such campaigns would confuse the people.

“People have realised how other party [MNS] has misled them. The workers [who joined MNS] are coming back to the Sena. We will definitely win the coming civic polls,” said Uddhav, Sena executive president.

The walkathon, attended by at least 500 people, started from Krishna Kunj, Raj’s residence to Matoshree, where Uddhav resides with his father and Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

He added that the conflict was causing lot of anguish to Thackeray senior who is highly revered by the citizens.

One of the prominent faces in the march included Suresh Gambhir, a four-time Mahim legislator who lost the 2009 Lok Sabha polls due to division of votes by the MNS. Valunje said the unification efforts would continue. “We will hold a massive rally on January 23, 2011 in this regard.”