Overview
- The cousins celebrated Bhai Dooj with their sister Jaywanti Thackeray Deshpande at her Dadar residence in Mumbai, with both families in attendance.
- The Bhai Dooj visit follows four meetings this month and more than 10 interactions over four months, signaling sustained rapprochement.
- Their renewed closeness began in July when they opposed making Hindi a compulsory third language in primary schools, after which the state withdrew two resolutions and named Narendra Jadhav to head a review panel.
- Leaders from Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS say an alliance for upcoming rural and urban body polls is now a mere formality, though no agreement has been announced.
- They have also joined opposition parties in urging election authorities to delay local and civic polls until alleged errors in the voters’ lists are corrected.