The silent march from Shivaji Park to Bandra to unite estranged cousins Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray turned out to be a damp squib as the senior cousin, Mr Uddhav Thackeray, admonished the group after meeting them, while Mr Raj Thackeray simply refused to give them a listening ear.
The march, organised by the Mazi Chalwal, Me Maharashtracha (MCMM) group, was supposed to begin from the statue of Meenatai Thackeray at Shivaji Park — not far from where MNS chief Mr Raj Thackeray lives — and end at Matoshree, the residence of Shiv Sena supremo Mr Bal Thackeray.
As planned, the morcha led by coordinator of the movement Satish Walunj started from Shivaji Park early on Sunday morning and proceeded to Mr Raj Thackeray’s residence — Krishna Kunj. However, when they reached there, they were not welcomed and told that he was not home.
Discouraged, but still hopeful the group proceeded to Matoshree.
Mr Uddhav Thackeray agreed to meet them, but justified the meeting saying that since the march had started near the statue of his late mother, he was duty-bound to meet them. He added that it was the teaching of his mother and the Maharashtrian culture to greet visitors coming home.
However, Uddhav refused to accept the memorandum tendered by the MCMM. “Why are you wasting your energy in taking out a morcha from one place to another? You are only creating confusion among the Marathi people. Don’t do this,” Mr Uddhav Thackeray said.
He also said that the Sena has been fighting for the problems of the Marathi people since 1965 under one leader, with the sole aim of the welfare of the Marathi people and hence people should join the Sena for their betterment.