Uddhav and Raj Thackeray to do joint protest march

Adversity can make for strange alliances, which is why on July 5, cousins and political adversaries in Maharashtra for decades, Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena faction that goes under his name, and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena head Raj Thackeray are going to jointly hold a protest meeting against the imposition of Hindi by the state government.

The issue is somewhat irrelevant, because the policy of making Hindi mandatory as a language in primary schools had already been reversed and it is now optional. But once the genie had been let out of the bag, it gave the Thackerays the perfect excuse to get together on an issue–Marathi pride–that has been the bread and butter of the Sena, from which both have arisen, for decades.

And they both need something as political currency to remain relevant in the state. Ever since Eknath Shinde snatched a big portion of the Sena from Uddhav and Raj’s declining numbers that saw his party get no seat at all in the last Assembly election, the two have been looking at each other for strength. United, with a common Thackeray banner name, they could bring back some of the mojo that had made the Sena such a defining political movement in the state.

Earlier, they had planned separate agitations but then common sense prevailed and on July 5, they will walk together. Other opposition parties, like Sharad Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party will also take part. It might even evolve to be a strong force if not for the fact that the only thing that unites them is survival. If the ruling alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party provides them sops big enough to break away towards them, then none of them are beyond temptation.

Eknath ShindeHindi impositionjoint protestJuly 5MaharashtraMarathi prideMNSPolitical allianceRaj ThackeraySharad PawarShiv SenaUddhav Thackeray