‘Battle of survival for us, Marathi manoos’

The election to the 227-seat Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, India’s richest civic body, on January 15 is a door-die battle for Shiv Sena (UBT).

- Shailesh Gaikwad

“It’s a battle for survival...not just for us but for the Marathi people in Mumbai,” says Uddhav Thackeray in an interview to HT.

The Shiv Sena which was in power in the BMC for 26 years, and drew much of its political capital and financial muscle from running the BMC, is a different beast going into this civic election. In mid-2022, it was split into two and Eknath Shinde joined the government and took away a chunk of the party rank and file.

Ahead of the civic polls, Thackeray, 65, joined hands with his estranged cousin Raj who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, and the two are campaigning on the plank of Marathi asmita or pride.

In this interview to HT, Uddhav Thackeray spoke of the alliance with his cousin, and his disappointment with the Congress for not aligning with him.

Your opponents say that both of you are fighting a battle for political survival which has nothing to do with the Marathi manoos.