"No Message, Will Give News Directly": Uddhav Thackeray On MNS Alliance Buzz

Will they, won't they form an alliance? Uddhav Thackeray's party and his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray's MNS face this Hamletian dilemma in the face of poor electoral runs.

With the upcoming Maharashtra civic polls, the buzz around the possible alliance between rival cousins has only gotten stronger. MNS is a breakaway group of the united Shiv Sena floated by Raj Thackeray in 2006.

Uddhav Thackeray, who leads the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), did not dismiss the idea when the alliance question was put to him.

"Whatever is in the heart of Maharashtra will happen. He said that there is no confusion in the hearts of Shiv Sainiks. There is no confusion in the mind of MNS also. We will not give any message, we will give the news directly," said the former chief minister. 

The statement follows the declaration by Amit Thackeray, Raj Thackeray's son, that alliances are formed through direct dialogue, hinting that the cousins should speak.

"Alliances aren't formed through media sound bites or newspaper headlines. Direct dialogue is necessary," Amit Thackeray said.

The young Thackeray added that he had "no issues" with the brothers coming together.

"Two brothers should speak. We talking on this issue will not make any difference. I don't have any issue with the two brothers coming together," he said further.

What's fuelling political speculation is the growing chumminess between MNS and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), even though both camps insist that no formal talks have begun. The two rival parties were seen together at a recent MNS party office puja in Nashik, where local leaders from both sides shared the stage.

Speaking to NDTV, Nashik district head DG Suryavanshi said that the local party heads participated in the puja of the new MNS office after they were officially invited by their MNS counterparts.

"Seniors will decide on the union. The Thackerays got to take a call on it, but we tried to show that the workers on the ground are ready for this situation," said Mr Suryavanshi.

On the possible challenges the alliance might pose, he added, "We'll see - wherever the strong candidate from either of the two parties is best suited, they will be fielded accordingly, but no such discussion has begun yet."

The BJP did not appear too enthused with the chatter around the alliance buzz.

"Political views differ. Even if the families come together, there will be different concepts of political arithmetic, hence there is doubt to what extent they will come together," BJP MLA Pravin Darekar said.