India's financial capital, Mumbai, will see a historic political battle in January as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, or BMC, goes to polls. Historic, because on the one hand it will see a bitter fight between former alliance partners Uddhav Thackeray and the BJP, while on the other, it will also, perhaps, witness estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray come together as alliance partners to fight the election!

The state election commission on Monday announced civic polls in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra, which will see thousands of candidates contesting for close to 2900 seats in 29 civic bodies all over the state, but the biggest attention is, obviously, drawn by the BMC and other municipalities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, or MMR. Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Bombivali, and eight such municipalities in the MMR region will be closely watched, as this is the richest region of the state apart from other bodies like the Pune, Nashik, and Nagpur civic bodies. This obviously will be a 'make or break situation' for one of Maharashtra's most watched political dynasties, the Thackeray cousins!

Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena, which was established in 1966, has mainly been a political force based in Mumbai and the MMR region. The party thrived in the mid-1980s and, later, in the 90s. The party drew all its power and financial muscle from the BMC and the........

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