Gen-Z will not forgive us if we fail to reunite: Sena (UBT)

After resistance from second rung leaders of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) about the possible reunion between their party and Shiv Sena (UBT), the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena on Monday urged them to let bygones be bygones and make a fresh start, in the interest of future generations. Raj Thackeray, MNS chief, who is on vacation to London, on the other hand, told his partymen not to speak on the issue till his return on April 30.

Taking the idea of the reunion a step further, through its editorial of the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ titled, ‘Maharashtrala Aankhi Kay Have’ the Thackeray faction of Sena expressed the need for the estranged cousins to come together and lauded Raj for continuously speaking in the interest of Marathi language. The editorial also underlined how Raj had in the past raised his voice against anti-Maharashtra politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah but “later he got trapped in the fake Hindutva politics of BJP”.

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“BJP’s politics is that of use and throw. Modi-Shah and Fadnavis never thought of national interest; so how is it possible that they will care about Maharashtra? BJP wants to divide Marathi unity so that they can give control of Mumbai to non-Marathi people – the Dharavi Redevelopment Project illustrates this. Maharashtra wants the union of the brothers; but if the dispute continues, future generations will not forgive us,” said the editorial.

Earlier, soon after news of the patch-up started doing the rounds on Saturday, Sandeep Deshpande, Mumbai president of MNS and a close Raj aide, harked back to the 2014 assembly elections when both cousins were poised to enter into an alliance but “Uddhav Thackeray let the party down and fought the election solo”. This was repeated during the 2017 civic elections, leading Deshpande to “question the credibility Uddhav Thackeray”. On other hand, Ameya Khopkar, president of MNS cinema wing, put out a social media post that stated: “I pray to the god against such an indecent alliance.”

On Monday afternoon, the MNS chief spoke to his leaders on the phone and asked them to recede. “Don’t speak any more on the issue. I will look into it after I return,” Raj reportedly told is party colleagues.

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Reacting to the negative sentiments among MNS leaders, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said: “When top leaders from both parties make a statement, we should take them seriously. It is always good to forget the past and start on a fresh note.”

“Chiefs of both the parties have spoken on this issue so workers like me won’t comment on it,” Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray told mediapersons on Monday.

In his podcast with filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar, which was aired on Saturday, Raj had said uniting in the interest of Marathis was not difficult, and that he had no qualms about working with Uddhav. The same day, at a separate event, Uddhav had said he was ready to put aside trivial disputes provided that those working against Maharashtra’s interests were not entertained.