The eyes of political pundits may well be glued on Maharashtra’s municipal elections in the new year, especially those in Mumbai and Pune. This is because of two reasons. First, some of the contests could well be between constituents of both the ruling coalition as well as of the Opposition; the outcomes could have tantalising repercussions for their respective coalitions. Second — the more compelling reason — is that the civic polls would witness, in keeping with the Yuletide spirit, rapprochements among previously estranged members of two prominent political dynasties. Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have joined hands to contest the plum prize of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Now, the Pawar clan has buried the hatchet — for the time being. Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, has announced an alliance with the faction of the Nationalist Congress Party led by his uncle, Sharad Pawar, for the elections to the Pimpri-Chinchiwad Municipal Corporation.
At the heart of these unions lie such compulsions as turf protection and a shared existential crisis. The Shiv Sena’s split in 2022 had left Uddhav Thackeray with diminished representation in the BMC given that a larger number of corporators had sided with Eknath Shinde; he has now joined forces with his cousin to try and protect the family’s slipping grasp on the cash-rich body. The family, despite the ruptures, evidently comes first for the Pawars too. Their reunion is meant to ensure that the PCMC remains in their pockets. The existential threat, especially for the Thackerays, has been the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has deepened its footprint across the state at the expense of once-powerful regional parties. The question, though, is whether these new developments would lead to changes in political equations. For instance, there is spirited conjecture that Sharad Pawar supping with his nephew, once again, would lead to the merging of the two factions of the NCP and, even more interestingly, the NCP joining the ruling Mahayuti government where the BJP, cushioned with its highest-ever assembly tally, rules the roost. Since uniting with Raj Thackeray, a shrill tone has been discernible in Uddhav Thackeray, who had tried — and failed — to resurrect himself as a liberal face during his days as chief minister. So the Opposition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, including the Congress, has no reason to be enthused by Maharashtra’s political clans uniting.