Why Thackerays billed BMC polls as ‘last election for Marathi citizens’

These are the key takeaways from the rally held at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park:

Need for Marathi unity

Raj Thackeray made his strongest pitch for unity by warning Marathi voters that the stakes could not be higher. “This is the last election for Marathi citizens. If you fail today, it will be a mistake for eternity … We should not fight. It is what they want (the BJP). We should not give what they want,” he said.

The Thackerays are banking on the traditional Marathi vote bank in the city consolidating behind them. The coming together of the two was a political calculation based on the assumption that Thackeray nostalgia would make the Shiv Sena’s traditional voters rally behind this new alliance, after repeated divisions among Marathi-speaking voters, especially following the split led by Deputy Chief Minister and Sena chief Eknath Shinde that weakened the political influence of the two brothers in Mumbai.

Fear of a ‘Gujarat takeover’

The Thackerays also played on fears of Mumbai being snatched away from Maharashtra and handed over to Gujarat. At the heart of their speeches was a clear warning that Mumbai was facing what they described as a “gradual takeover” by Gujarat-linked political and economic interests and that the BMC elections were the last line of defence against it.

MNS president Raj articulated this fear most directly when he said Mumbai and Maharashtra must remain “in the hands of Marathis and not be given to Gujarat”. The remark was not meant as a literal transfer of territory, but as a political warning that control of Mumbai’s land, wealth, and decision-making was steadily shifting away from Maharashtra.

The reference drew on deep historical memory. Mumbai’s inclusion in Maharashtra was fiercely contested during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement in the 1960s. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray tied this fear directly to the civic elections. Explaining the reunion with his cousin, he said, “We have come together and buried our differences to ensure the protection of Maharashtra … We are telling you all why we want to win Mumbai … We are taking the pledge that we will not let this Mumbai break, not allow anyone to break it and not let it bow down.”

Uddhav framed the BMC polls as a battle to stop what he described as a takeover of Mumbai, an issue that has always found resonance in the city’s political discourse.

Adani and corporate influence

Raj Thackeray warned of large corporate interests reshaping the city. “Grabbing the land is a long-term plan brewing. The plan is to displace you. Land and language are your identity. Once it is gone, your identity is over,” he said, while listing the expansion of Adani group projects since 2014. “That’s the reason why they (the BJP) are so desperate to win,” he added.

Rising redevelopment, land acquisition and big infrastructure projects have fuelled fears of displacement. By linking these concerns to corporate growth and the BJP, the Thackerays positioned themselves as defenders of local interests.

BJP and ‘religious polarisation’

Both leaders accused the BJP of relying on polarisation instead of governance. “I will give Rs 1 lakh to Devendra Fadnavis if he could show a single election where he did not raise Hindu-Muslim issues,” Uddhav said, daring the CM to talk about civic problems instead.

The charge was meant to shift focus from religious and identity-based debates to everyday issues such as roads, housing and public services, issues that the Thackerays believe the BJP could feel vulnerable in.