Thackeray Cousins Reunion? What It Means for Maharashtra Politics

With the signals and reports that most famous estranged cousins of Maharashtra may come together and ice may soon be broken between former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and MNS Chief Raj Thackeray, lets take a look at the current political weight of the two brothers who went on different paths.

The signs of coming together of the cousins may also be due to the prestigious BMC elections which may take place in later part of 2025. BMC is considered life and blood of Uddhav led Shiv Sena is politically important for both the brothers who started their political journey from Mumbai. Control over Mumbai's largest municipal corporation has long been a matter of prestige for Shiv Sena. In 2017, Shiv Sena contested alone and emerged as the top party, while MNS was relatively weak. If both parties come together this time, they could pose serious challenges for the BJP.

Thackeray Cousins Reunite? Big Shake-Up Ahead in Maharashtra Politics

Shiv Sena ( UBT)

In the 2024 Assembly elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) performed poorly, managing to win only 20 seats out of 95 seats it contested and won about 10.0 % votes.

MNS

In the last two elections, not a single MLA or corporator has been elected from Raj Thackeray's party. Party fought on 125 seats and could secure just 1.6 % votes.

If Uddhav & Raj come together, what impact will it have on Maharashtra's politics?

Advantage of more seats

In article written in November 2024, Voter mood had informed that in these recent assembly election, MNS failed to register even a single win. But the data suggests that while MNS could not win any seat for itself, but it has inadvertently helped cousin Uddhav's Sena to win some seats in a tightly fought contest.

We had shared the example of Worli seat from where Uddhav's son Aditya was locked in a tough fight with Shiv Sena ( Shinde) candidate Milind Deora. Aditya won this seat and got 63324 votes. Milind Deora earned 54523 votes and MNS candidate Sandeep Sudhakar Deshpande got 19367 votes. So if Deshpande had not been in the fray, MNS which was fighting the election against MVA could have transferred its votes . In this case, outcome would have been totally different had MNS' votes 19367 had gone to Mahayuti candidate Milind.

There were a total of 19 seats where votes which MNS got were more than the winning margins . On these 19 seats UBT won 11 wile rest were won by BJP alliance. Had MNS been with UBT, the situation on these seats would have been different.

So to summarize this point, if Uddhav and Raj come together, then they will pose a challenge to the Shiv Sena led by Shinde and also to the BJP because their united efforts will help them win more seats than their current situation.

Good prospects in BMC election

Control over Mumbai's largest municipal corporation has long been a matter of prestige for Shiv Sena. In 2017, Shiv Sena contested alone and emerged as the top party, while MNS was relatively weak. If both parties come together this time, they could pose serious challenges for the BJP.