Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said that his party and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will contest the upcoming municipal elections in the state, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, in alliance, reported The Indian Express.
In addition to Mumbai, talks were underway to contest the municipal polls together in Thane, Nashik, Kalyan Dombivali and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, said Raut, adding that “no one can break the unity of the Thackerays”.
The civic body elections in Mumbai are expected to take place later this year, while the Assembly elections are scheduled in 2029.
“The Thackeray brothers will contest the civic polls together and they will win,” the Uddhav Sena leader was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
He added: “For Maharashtra and Marathi unity, the brothers have unsheathed the sword. Our discussions with MNS are still ongoing, but the goal is clear – to ensure victory in every civic body where we contest together.”
The Uddhav Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had earlier announced that they would contest the BEST Employees Co-operative Credit Society elections in Mumbai together.
In the August 18 polls, the Uddhav Sena-affiliated BEST Kamgar Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena-affiliated BEST Kamgar Sena will jointly fight against the BJP-backed panel led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s aides Prasad Lad and Pravin Darekar, reported The Indian Express.
In 2005, Raj Thackeray quit the undivided Shiv Sena and formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena a year later.
The Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena were political rivals for the past two decades.
However, on July 5, Uddhav Thackeray held a rally with his cousin Raj Thackeray, during which he said that they had “come together to stay together”.
“We have united to protect Marathi,” Uddhav Thackeray had told supporters of his Shiv Sena faction and those of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena at a joint rally in Mumbai. “I want to tell you all that us coming together is just a trailer. This is just the beginning.”
Uddhav Thackeray expressed confidence that he, along with his cousin, would win the civic body elections in Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra.
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