Supriya Sule The Special Guest At Uddhav, Raj Thackeray's Reunion Rally In Mumbai

Last Updated:July 05, 2025, 13:37 IST

Though her party was not officially part of the rally, the NCP (SCP) is an alliance partner of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena

Supriya Sule at the Thackerays' reunion rally in Mumbai. (ANI)

It was a star-studded Saturday in Mumbai as estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray shared the stage after two decades, marking a paradigm shift in Maharashtra’s politics. The event titled ‘Awaj Marathicha’ (Voice of the Marathi) was the first time since 2005 that the cousins—embroiled in a bitter legacy battle—came together in a show of unity as the Maharashtra government scrapped two GRs to introduce Hindi as the third language in the state under the New Education Policy.

The political gathering, however, also made news for a special guest—ist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Supriya Sule. Though her party was not officially part of the rally, the NCP (SCP) is an alliance partner of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena.

Speaking to news agency PTI on Friday, Sule had said her father and NCP (SP) patriarch Sharad Pawar would not attend the rally due to pre-existing engagements.

Sule’s presence, ironically, threw light on the absence of the Congress from the event. Congress sources had said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut had extended an invite to the party’s state unit president Harshwardhan Sapkal but he decided to skip it due to Raj Thackeray’s “inconsistent" political stand.

‘AGAINST HINDI IMPOSITION’

Raj Thackeray, while taking a dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, said he achieved what Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray couldn’t do—unite the cousins.

“I had said in one of my interviews that my Maharashtra is bigger than any politics and fight. Today, after 20 years, Uddhav and I have come together. What Balasaheb could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did it. The work of bringing both of us together," he said.

On the Hindi imposition issue, Raj Thackeray said he had no issues with the language but pointed out that the Maratha empire did not impose Marathi over the vast regions it ruled.

“I don’t have anything against Hindi, no language is bad. It takes a lot of effort to build a language. We Marathi people ruled over a lot of states during the Maratha Empire, but we never enforced Marathi on those parts," he said.

News politics Supriya Sule The Special Guest At Uddhav, Raj Thackeray's Reunion Rally In Mumbai