Mumbai: Following the political split in the Pawar family in Maharashtra, there were speculations on the possibility of estranged Thackeray cousins, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS) Raj, coming together. However, Uddhav has said that there have been no such discussions as of now.
He said he will talk about the possibility of joining forces with cousin Raj if and when such a proposal comes up.
“If there was any basis to the discussion (of Uddhav and Raj coming together), it wouldn’t have stopped. It started and stopped, because whoever started this didn’t find any basis to it,” he said.
He was in conversation with Sanjay Raut, a Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP and Executive Editor of Saamana, the party’s mouthpiece. A two-part interview of Uddhav was broadcasted on the party’s YouTube channel over Wednesday and Thursday.
“I don’t think about what ifs. I will think about it at the moment (if such a proposal comes up). As of now, there is no such discussion, so there is no point talking about it,” he said in the second part of the interview released Thursday.
Raj Thackeray had rebelled against the undivided Shiv Sena in 2005 after his uncle, party supremo Bal Thackeray, had chosen his son Uddhav as his successor. In 2006, Raj Thackeray formed the MNS. However, the party has been facing a near electoral rout since 2014.
The split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) earlier this month — when Ajit Pawar joined the state’s ruling coalition of the Eknath Shinde led faction of Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — prompted some MNS workers to talk about a possible patch up between the Thackerays. One such ward-level office bearer also put up a poster urging the two brothers to come together.
Speaking to Raut, Thackeray alleged the BJP is going after all the nephews from the uncle-nephew conflicts that characterise Maharashtra’s politics.
Ajit Pawar’s rebellion against his uncle Sharad Pawar was said to be the latest in a string of such conflicts.
“Where have all the nephews gone? Who is consolidating all of them? Those who are opposing dynasty politics are breaking dynasties,” he said.
Like Ajit Pawar, NCP’s Dhananjay Munde, nephew of late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, is also part of the Shinde-led cabinet now. Similarly, Avdhoot Tatkare, NCP leader Sunil Tatkare’s nephew, also rebelled against his uncle and joined the Shiv Sena (UBT) first before joining the BJP in October last year.
Now, Sunil Tatkare is on the same side, being part of the Ajit Pawar-led rebellion.
Also read: At show of strength, Ajit Pawar draws more MLAs than uncle amid calls for him to ‘lead NCP’
‘Rahul Gandhi someone willing to listen, understand’
In his conversation with Raut, Uddhav said the idea of INDIA, the opposition alliance against the ruling NDA, was an expansion of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) that was formed in Maharashtra in 2019. The MVA comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Congress.
According to Uddhav, everyone who is part of INDIA is committed to preserving the country’s democracy and freedom and no one has shown “greed of leadership”.
Uddhav, who has often clashed with Rahul Gandhi in the past, especially over the latter’s criticism of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, had words of praise for the Congress leader.
“I had never met Rahul Gandhi before this. But the misunderstandings that have been woven about him, about him being a certain way and having contempt for Hindus, after actually meeting him, I thought he was someone who was willing to listen and understand and put forth his point of view gently,” he said.
“He (Rahul) was not only listening to what one says, but also put forth suggestions about it in front of everyone,” Uddhav added.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: ‘Not my fault I was born from a different womb’ — Ajit Pawar escalates feud with uncle