India: The Thackeray reunion Mumbai didn’t see coming

Who doesn’t love a good filmi script? One of the classics — remember Deewar? Two brothers with totally different personalities, separated at a Mumbai bridge. The memorable dialogue: “Mere paas maa hai” (‘Mother is on my side’ or literally ‘I have my mother’).

The possibility of Uddhav and Raj Thackeray — estranged for over two decades — coming together evokes the same breathless, starry fascination in Mumbai, and wariness in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation.

The two cousins are as different as chalk and cheese. Uddhav Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, is a soft-spoken, gentle wildlife photographer. Raj — the nephew brought into politics by Balasaheb — is his firebrand doppelganger.

Decades have passed since they squared off for the legacy, with Balasaheb preferring his son Uddhav, prompting Raj to go off and form his own outfit. But together, they made a good team, complementing each other’s strengths. Raj is an excellent communicator, known for his heavy-handed public speaking, often spicing up his speeches with PowerPoint slides and a sharp sense of copywriting. Uddhav is a skilled manager, which he showcased with his calm handling of the COVID pandemic during his tenure as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister.

And now, the two have dreamt up a suitably filmi script — of sinking their differences for the greater good of the Marathi manoos (sons of the soil), currently under siege from “outsiders.” In particular, the parpranti (non-local) — prosperous Gujaratis who wield economic heft in Mumbai.

Raj Thackeray was running a listless campaign to promote Marathi and resist the imposition of Hindi, with his band of semi-thugs beating up soft targets such as lower-level clerks in government bank branches and trying to stop central recruitment exams like those for the railways.

His politics since leaving the Thackeray family fold have been transactional. He was anti-BJP, then post some sort of deal, ended up supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier this year, he hosted Eknath Shinde — currently Deputy CM of Maharashtra, who broke away from the Uddhav-led Sena — for a meal at his home.

The real trouble with Raj is that his politics is episodic, and he lacks the discipline it takes to build up a political organisation and a cadre from the ground up. That’s why, after a hugely anticipated solo launch, his politics has spluttered away — and he’s squandered much of his potential.

Uddhav knows this, which is why he has said that Raj should commit to no more U-turns in his politics, and stop teaming up with those who have done Maharashtra wrong. Both politicians are at their lowest ebb — one with a truncated, broken party and the other, a solo star. While they’ve sparred politically over the years, they’ve been there for each other through hospital stays and family events.

Coming together for the greater cause of the Marathi manoos has huge resonance, especially within the Sena — originally a party for the sons of the soil. This would go some way in winning back the Sena cadre, currently disenchanted with “Uddhav saheb” for his “unnatural” alliance with the Congress.

Sub-regionalism has always been a major force in Maharashtra politics, particularly in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, which attracts migrants from across the country. This creates tension with locals who feel their livelihoods and culture are under threat, especially as the Marathi language fades from public life.

In recent years, rich migrants from Gujarat have bought up buildings in the best parts of Mumbai, pushing up property prices and forming exclusive, vegetarian-only housing societies — an anathema to the Marathis. Economically weaker Marathis have been pushed to the margins of the city. Daily flashpoints now erupt over food choices and cultural codes.

Pointing to Modi and Shah — both from Gujarat — Uddhav Thackeray has assiduously promoted a narrative of Marathi victimisation, positioning Gujarat as the favoured state. The shifting of billion-dollar private sector projects like Boeing and Foxconn to Gujarat — despite Maharashtra being the second-most industrialised state in India — has only fed that sentiment. The BJP-led government in Maharashtra has struggled to counter this narrative.

Interestingly, against a hegemonic BJP and a third-term Modi government at the Centre, the same sub-regionalism narrative is playing out in Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has positioned himself as a protector of Tamil language and culture, resisting Hindi hegemony. Stalin has also protested against delimitation, calling it an attempt to privilege the North.

In Karnataka, ruled by the Congress, sub-regionalism dominates too, with tensions in Bengaluru — India’s IT capital — over outsiders not speaking Kannada.

This phenomenon of sub-regionalism is proving a potent tool against the BJP, with its Hindi–Hindu–Hindustan centralisation impulse. And most regional leaders are now deploying it.

That is the survival script the Thackerays are betting on — just in time for the big-ticket Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. If the reunion does happen, even Salim-Javed couldn’t have written a better melodrama.

Let’s give the last word to Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rajya Sabha MP from the Uddhav-led Sena:

“Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray ji has always been at the forefront of voicing his concerns for the state and its people, and has been consistent in his stance. The coming together of the two politically estranged brothers would have more to do with Raj Thackeray’s willingness to stand by the commitment to the cause of the state.

Often in the past, he’s changed his stance — he stayed silent when the MVA government was pulled down unconstitutionally, when Shiv Sena — founded by Balasaheb Thackeray — was immorally split, when crores were spent on horse trading, when industries were taken away from the state.

However, if there is a change of heart, it would be a new beginning in Maharashtra politics — one that strengthens the voice of the Marathi people and the ideals of Vandaniya Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray.”