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MNS chief Raj Thackeray meets Shiv Sena's Uddhav at Matoshree

The meeting comes even as the Shiv Sena and the BJP are flexing their muscles before the BMC elections in 2017.

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Raj and Uddhav Thackeray
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In a development that sparked off speculation, MNS chief Raj Thackeray visited his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence of Matoshree in Bandra East on Friday morning. The meeting, which is being described as a family affair, comes in the run-up to the BMC polls due early 2017.

The aggressive Raj, who was seen as an archetypal Shiv Sainik and projected as his uncle Bal Thackeray's heir apparent before being sidelined in favour of Uddhav, quit the party to form the MNS in 2006 and walked away with a chunk of the Marathi vote in urban pockets like Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Nashik. The MNS supremo was accompanied by senior leader and former MLA Bala Nandgaonkar. Uddhav celebrated his birthday on Wednesday. The visit may indicate a thaw in their personal relations.

The meeting comes even as the Shiv Sena and the BJP are flexing their muscles before the elections to the cash-rich BMC, where the two parties are likely to contest on their own. On the other hand, the MNS is fighting an uphill battle for political relevance, with the Sena benefiting from the polarisation of the Marathi vote in the backdrop of the Shiv Sena and the BJP snapping on their 25-year-old alliance before 2014 the state assembly polls. Despite being allies in the Centre and in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has been repeatedly taking on the BJP and the meeting may be aimed at sending a message to the Sena's senior ally.

The MNS has also been beset with desertions in its ranks and has seen its bench strength drop to just one in the assembly from the previous 13 in 2009.

In 2008,  Raj had visited Matoshree to meet his late uncle and return some books including those of the legendary cartoonist David Low. In 2012, Raj skipped a party convention at Alibag to accompany Uddhav for a medical check up at Lilavati Hospital before his angioplasty and when Thackeray Sr fell ill and later passed away, Raj made regular visits to Matoshree and the two estranged cousin were seen at his funeral at the Shivaji Park grounds in November 2012. Uddhav also called on Raj to inquire about the health of his daughter Urvashi after she met with a minor mishap. The next year, Raj visited an exhibition of photographs clicked by Uddhav and in December 2015, the two shared the dias at NCP chief and former Union minister Sharad Pawar's 75th birthday celebrations.

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