Shiv Sena (UBT) is not just a party but an idea; BJP can't finish it: Uddhav

Days after the setback in the Maharashtra civic polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has declared that the BJP is deluding itself if it thinks it can finish off his party, insisting the Sena represents an idea that cannot be extinguished.

Speaking at an event on Friday marking the birth centenary of late Balasaheb Thackeray — his father and founder of the undivided Shiv Sena — Uddhav said there were many who wished to erase the Thackeray name, “but it won't happen”.

Addressing the gathering earlier, his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray lashed out at the current political climate, describing it as a “market of slaves” and likening the recent Maharashtra municipal polls — including those in Kalyan-Dombivli — to an “auction”.

“The BJP is wrong if it thinks it can finish Shiv Sena (UBT). The Shiv Sena (UBT) is not a party but an idea,” Uddhav said.

He argued that without the Sena’s rise, the BJP would “never have seen the inside of the BMC or ‘Mantralaya’,” referring to the state government headquarters.

His remarks followed the BJP’s emergence as the single largest party in the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on 15 January, securing 89 seats. With its ally — the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which won 29 seats — the BJP-led coalition ended the Thackerays’ decades-long grip over India’s wealthiest civic body.

The Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance performed better than many expected, yet could not prevent the BJP-led Mahayuti bloc from crossing the majority threshold. Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, while the MNS picked up six.

“They want to swallow Mumbai,” Uddhav alleged, adding that “money power” had been deployed on an unprecedented scale in the city’s municipal elections.

Although the results disappointed the Sena (UBT), Uddhav insisted the Opposition remains a formidable force within the civic body. He claimed the Opposition faced structural disadvantages, including faulty electoral rolls, and argued the result “would have been even more different” had Sena (UBT) workers not identified dual voters.

“We have to start afresh,” he said, stressing that the Sena was never created merely to chase power, but “for fighting for the rights of Marathi manoos”.

Uddhav accused unnamed forces of trying to impose “non-Marathi culture” on Maharashtra, citing the now-revoked decision to make Hindi compulsory from Class 1, which he characterised as part of a broader “conspiracy”.

The slogan 'Jai Maharashtra' — long associated with Sena cadre — was now “in danger,” he warned, urging supporters to use it as a greeting.

Raj Thackeray, meanwhile, reminded the audience that it was Bal Thackeray who first showed that Hindus could be a political force, adding that “even the BJP did not think that such a consolidation was possible”.

With PTI inputs