A common enemy seems to have been enough to put all their differences to rest, as the Thackeray cousins — Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav and MNS chief Raj — shared the stage for the first time in nearly two decades on Saturday. The estranged cousins were all smiles and camaraderie at Marathi Victory Rally held at NSCI Dome in Worli on Saturday to celebrate the government rolling back its decision to introduce a three-language system in schools across Maharashtra.

There were speculations that this was a back-door push to Hindi under the guise of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Speaking first at the rally, Raj set the tone with a jibe at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP, for reuniting the cousins. “What Balasaheb could not do, Fadnavis did,” the MNS chief said. Raj, however, did not directly slam the BJP or Shiv Sena for not opposing the imposition of Hindi. Neither did he make any direct reference to deputy CM Eknath Shinde for saying “Jai Gujarat” at an event in Pune on Friday.

The camaraderie was also apparent between Raj’s son Amit (left) and Uddhav’s son Aaditya