Mumbai: As Shiv Sena UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray are set to formally announce their alliance today, December 24, Sanjay Raut has said that corruption is a major issue in Mumbai,
as the BJP and Eknath Shinde looted the city and the BMC over the past four years. The Thackeray brothers alliance comes ahead of the elections for the 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai and Pune, which are scheduled for January 15.
The polls are also set to see a new dynamic as the Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, are set to unite after two decades. The brothers were first spotted together in July 2025, their first public appearance together in nearly 20 years.
Speaking on the parties coming together, MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called it a historic moment, and expressed confidence that the alliance will will head towards a historic victory. Calling it the need of the hour, "No BMC elections have been held for the last 3.5 years. They have looted the treasury, and no work has been done for the people," she said.
Calling it an auspicious moment, Sena UBT MP Arvind Sawant said that the people of Maharashtra have been waiting for this moment, adding that "Mumbai accommodates everyone within itself. We have never looked at caste or anyone's religion. We have always spoken about Marathis and sons of the soil..."
Speaking on Sena UBT and MNS coming together for 2026 Municipal Corporation, MNS leader Yashwant Killedar said that we have been waiting for this moment for a long time. "What is happening today is a matter of happiness for us," he said.
UBT leader Anand Dubey called it a historic day. "The way people want to loot Mumbai, want to keep it mortgaged to themselves, against that we want to launch a public movement."
He further added that the people of Mumbai want both Thackeray brothers to come together and expressed confidence that in the coming times, along with Mumbai, there will be the echo of a strong government of Shiv Sena and MNS in 28 other municipal corporations."
