At an event in Mumbai, Raj Thackeray made an emotional appeal highlighting the issue of Marathi identity. He suggested that the upcoming election could be the last chance for the Marathi community to preserve its cultural presence.
“Marathi people must stay alert, or this Mumbai civic election could be their last,” he said.
Responding to this, BJP Mumbai President Ameet Satam stated that the people of Mumbai, including Marathi-speaking citizens, are satisfied with the BJP government. “People have seen development over the past 11 years under the BJP. Voters are happy with the progress,” Satam said.
For nearly 25 years, the undivided Shiv Sena and BJP jointly governed the BMC, but their alliance broke in 2017. That year, Shiv Sena won 84 seats, the BJP 82, MNS seven (six later joined the Uddhav Thackeray camp), the Congress 29, NCP nine, and others 15. After Eknath Shinde’s 2022 rebellion, most Shiv Sena corporators shifted to his faction.
Now, the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena are pushing strongly to gain control of Asia’s richest municipal corporation, campaigning on projects such as metro lines, bridges, tunnels and expressways. Meanwhile, the weakened Shiv Sena (UBT) is striving to retain its influence in the BMC.
Raj Thackeray’s MNS sees an opportunity to revive its political relevance and has shown readiness to collaborate with Uddhav Thackeray on shared issues of Marathi and Maharashtrian pride.
However, Revenue Minister and senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule dismissed Raj’s remarks, saying, “There is no such thing as a ‘last election.’ This is just an attempt to stir emotions within the Marathi community.”
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