But behind the powerful images and teary-eyed Shiv Sainiks and MNS loyalists lies a harder question: Can the Thackeray cousins really convert this emotional photo-op into a meaningful political counterforce against Eknath Shinde’s faction and the mighty BJP? Or is this unity simply nostalgia in saffron colours?

The Shiv Sena was once synonymous with Balasaheb Thackeray’s voice booming over Mumbai’s streets — a force that made the city’s working-class Marathi population feel powerful, relevant, and protected in a rapidly cosmopolitanising metropolis. But when Balasaheb picked Uddhav, the soft-spoken, family man, over the fiery Raj, the split was inevitable. By 2006, Raj Thackeray had walked away and formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) — taking with him not just cadres but a chunk of the Sena’s raw street energy. Uddhav’s Shiv Sena (UBT) has lost its official party name and symbol to Eknath Shinde’s rebel faction, which joined hands with the BJP to snatch power and label itself the “real" Sena. Raj Thackeray’s MNS, meanwhile, has failed to convert its street-level theatre into seats — it remains more a punchline than a political threat, despite Raj’s undoubted charisma.

Yet, under the shadow of the recently held celebration event in Mumbai, something shifted. For the first time in two decades, the cousins laughed together on stage, invoked Balasaheb’s spirit, and subtly told Maharashtra’s Marathi voters: “We are still here, and we’re family."

On paper, this........

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