Raj, Uddhav Thackeray Share Stage For First Time In 20 Years For "Victory Rally"
After a political separation that spanned two decades, cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray united today at a public rally in Mumbai. The event, titled 'Awaj Marathicha' (Voice of the Marathi), has been jointly organised by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), marking the first time since 2005 that the two estranged leaders will share a stage.
The ruling Mahayuti coalition's recent rollback of a controversial policy mandating Hindi as a third language in Maharashtra's primary schools has served as the trigger for this show of unity by the Thackeray cousins. Both Uddhav and Raj had strongly opposed the proposal, and the rally is being positioned as a "victory" for Marathi linguistic identity.
"What Bal Thackeray could not do, what many others could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did - bring us together," said Raj Thackeray on stage. "You may have power in the Vidhan Bhawan, we have power on the roads."
"Where did you get this three-language formula from? This came only from the central government. Today, in the High Court and the Supreme Court, everything is in English. It is not there in any other state. Why only in Maharashtra? When Maharashtra awakens, you see what happens," he said.
The last time Raj and Uddhav appeared together in public was during the Malvan Assembly by-election campaign in 2005. At that time, the Shiv Sena was still a united entity under the towering presence of Bal Thackeray. The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Narayan Rane, a senior Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister, who had quit the party following internal disagreements.
Shortly after that campaign, Raj Thackeray left Shiv Sena. In November 2005, in an emotionally charged press conference at Shivaji Park, Raj announced his resignation from the party his uncle had founded. "All I had asked for was respect. All I got was insult and humiliation," he said, stopping short of directly naming his cousin Uddhav.
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