The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) combine had framed the BMC polls as a battle to “save the Marathi manoos and Mumbai, projecting the contest as both an assertion of regional pride and a referendum on the Thackeray legacy. ​The reunion of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray after nearly two decades was billed as an acid test for the Thackeray brand.