Uddhav Thackeray announces Shiv Sena's alliance with Maratha outfit Sambhaji Brigade

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has announced an electoral alliance with Sambhaji Brigade, an organisation known to espouse the cause of the Maratha community.

Thackeray said that the Sambhaji Brigade would have an alliance with the Sena for the upcoming local body polls and Maharashtra assembly polls.

Thackeray said Jogendra Kavade of the People’s Republican Party, a Dalit outfit, too had met him recently and explored the options of an alliance. “People who are not in sync with our ideology are meeting us and exploring ways to forge an alliance to save democracy and the Constitution,” Thackeray said.


Sambhaji Brigade has an ‘anti-Brahmin’ image and has attacked several historians, including the late Babasaheb Purandare, for ‘diluting’ Maratha history and ‘elevating’ the role of Brahmins. Brigade members vandalised the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in 2004 and several historical manuscripts were destroyed.

The institute was attacked as historians like Purandare and others had helped author James Laine’s with his research for his book, Shivaji Hindu King in Islamic India. The Brigade in 2015 also opposed the BJP-Sena government move to bestow an award on Purandare.

The outfit has also faced allegations that it was ‘sponsored’ by the Nationalist Congress Party to ‘consolidate its Maratha vote base.’ The Shiv Sena, on the other hand, has defended Purandare. Referring to differences between the Sambhaji Brigade Thackeray said, “Instead of looking at the differences between the two parties, we are looking at similarities we have. We will form a coordination committee to make decisions.