Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took a veiled swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, who held a joint event with his estranged cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, saying the rally was not a victory celebration but a “rudali darshan” (watching professional mourner in action). Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray with his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray during a joint rally in Mumbai. (ANI Photo)

The Thackeray cousins shared the public stage at a victory rally in Mumbai to celebrate the rollback of two government resolutions issued earlier by the Fadnavis-led government introducing Hindi as a third language from class 1 in state schools. The event was originally planned as a protest against the Mahayuti government’s decision.

“The rally was not Vijay utsav but a ‘rudali’ darshan,” Fadnavis said, while thanking MNS chief Raj Thackeray for crediting him in reuniting the two Thackeray cousins.

Addressing the event, Raj Thackeray credited Fadnavis, albeit in a lighter vein, for bringing together the two cousins which even Bal Thackeray could not do. “Balasaheb Thackeray must be blessing me,” Fadnavis said.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said no word was spoken about Marathi at the event and the speech (delivered by Uddhav Thackeray) focused on how his government was toppled and how they can regain power.

His remarks come even as the BJP sought to downplay the possible reunion of the Thackeray cousins after nearly two decades, claiming the “inherent differences” in the Opposition’s coalition will not affect the stability of the party-led Mahayuti government, which it shares with the Shiv Sena and the NCP, or impact its future in Maharashtra.

Senior BJP leaders, requesting anonymity, however, admitted that the coming together of the estranged Thackeray cousins was precipitated by the protest over the state’s emphasis on teaching Hindi as the third language in the state where linguistic hegemony of Marathi plays a central role in politics.

“The state government erred in issuing the circular…although it was not issued by the chief minister, there was lag between the time it was issued on April 16 and its withdrawal on June 29, which gave the Opposition an opportunity to attack the Mahayuti and also a platform to widen the anti-BJP front,” a senior BJP functionary said.

The leader, however, asserted that the union should not be read as a “threat to the Mahayuti” because the Opposition lacks unity and has used the language issue as a platform to widen the anti-BJP front ahead of the municipal polls, which are likely to be announced after the monsoon.

“The opposition’s unity will be tested when the elections to the BMC are announced and when each of these alliance partners will fight over seat allocation and other such issues,” the functionary said.

A second BJP leader said that besides “inherent differences” among the Congress, the NCP (SP) and the two outfits led by the Thackeray cousins — to be sure the MNS joining the Opposition front was yet to be announced — that will come to fore over electoral issues, all eyes will be on how the political ambitions that drove a wedge between the cousins will play out.

“When (Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray was alive, Raj was seen as the natural inheritor of his brand of politics… differences between the families were cemented by political ambition and tussle for power, which led to Raj moving out. Today they have come together and with them are political outfits such as the CPI and the CPI(M), which stood for causes antithetical to Balasaheb, so the Marathi Manoos who believed in his brand of politics and Hindutva will not support such an alliance,” the second leader claimed.

(With agency inputs)