Batting for the re-unification of the Thackeray cousins and the Pawar uncle-nephew duo, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said that he would want the Thackeray family and the Pawar family to come together. “Who likes to see the families being split like this? I would want them to come together. But I also know that it is not going to happen,” he told The Hindu in an exclusive interview for ‘Pulse Maharashtra’, a show on The Hindu’s YouTube channel.
The statement is significant on the background of the speculations in Maharashtra politics about the re-unification of Thackeray cousins – Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray. There have been speculations about Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar too coming together. Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar split ways after Ajit Pawar, in 2023, staked a claim to the party formed by Sharad Pawar.
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“I have seen them together. I have seen the kind of love that the Thackeray family had for Raj Thackeray. During each vacation or holiday, Balasaheb Thackeray would call Raj over to his residence. The family would not have lunch till Raj arrived. Such was the love the family shared towards him. Then, the family split. It does not feel nice for the families to be separated. Similarly, about Ajit Pawar. I have seen him since very young days. He was groomed under the tutelage of Sharad Pawar. Who likes to see them apart? Even I want the families to be together. But I know, it will not happen. They will not come together,” he said.
Recently, Raj Thackeray had said that it will not be easy to wipe off the legacies of the Thackeray and Pawar families. He had said that the families have left their mark not just in regional politics, but also in national politics, and that there was an effort to ‘finish off’ their names from politics.
Chhagan Bhujbal was recently inducted in the Maharashtra cabinet, days after he had publicly expressed strong reservations against his party leader Ajit Pawar’s decision to exclude him earlier. From OBC reservation to the State politics, from Maratha quota demand to slamming Manoj Jarange-Patil, and from Thackerays to the Pawars, he spoke on a range of topics in a free-wheeling conversation. To watch the entire interview, please visit The Hindu’s YouTube channel for ‘Pulse Maharashtra’.
Published – May 27, 2025 05:35 pm IST
