India, Dec. 28 -- Fielding calls from party workers and potential allies, planning strategy for the civic polls, and cracking tough seat-sharing deals, Sanjay Raut is his usual ebullient self - all while receiving treatment for his illness. In an interview with Yogesh Naik, the senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader speaks of how he helped reunite Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, and how he views the party's biggest political foe, the BJP. Excerpts. It was a case of abhi nahi to kabhi nahi (Now or never). They are family. And Thackeray is a brand, regardless of what people say. Balasaheb Thackeray set up the Sena for locals, and future generations will not forget him. He did a lot for Hindus, but our base is Marathi. There was a lot of pressure on us to come together. There must have been pressure on the other side (MNS) too. After all, they are brothers. Once Raj Thackeray indicated (that they may reunite) in the podcast (in April), I spoke to Uddhavji and to Raj. I also have a strong friendship with Raj as we have worked together for years. When I spoke to him, he had a positive approach to this. That's true. But, when Raj Thackeray came on board with us, the Congress left us. We've gained something and we've lost something. Raj is very essential to us. He has good qualities. He has a vote bank and gets the votes. He has votes in every ward. These are originally our votes. These are Marathi votes. Hindi-speaking people or Muslims voters won't vote for him. It used to be more than one-third of the population, but has reduced by 4-5%. Some of our people have become andh bhakt (blindly following the BJP). Earlier, Hindi-speaking people and Gujaratis used to vote for us. The Shiv Sena was the need of Mumbai. We worked hard for them. Now, andh bhakti (blind following) has increased. Hence we have suffered. But the NCP (SP) is considering allying with us and we will benefit from this. The Coastal Road was a project of Uddhavji. The BMC and metro are not connected. Woh hawa banayenge (creating illusions). Modi's politics is all about creating hawa. The BJP's politics is hawa mahal. While the BJP practices politics of illusion, the real fight is on the ground. Not one of these projects was initiated by the BJP. The trans-harbour link or Atal Setu was started by the Congress. The Eastern Freeway was the Congress's idea. The BJP is just on a name-changing and statue-building spree. The way Mumbai's lands are being given to Adani, it is Mumbai's loss and BMC's loss. We have never changed our stand on Adani and on Dharavi. The public is not with Adani. Political parties may be backing him but the people are opposing the Dharavi project and we are with people. The Sena and BJP were together for several years in various projects and they supported us for years in the BMC. It does not suit them now (to take responsibility for past wrongdoings). No, Shinde has not taken over the mantle. It is Amit Shah's party. The Shiv Sena with Eknath Shinde is chori ka maal (stolen property). If they had not taken our symbol, where would Shinde be? I challenge Shinde to set aside the bow and arrow symbol and then contest elections. Our symbol is in households everywhere. The late Balasaheb took it to every household. The same thing happened with Ajit Pawar (when he split the NCP). It is Amit Shah's strategy to break up a party and reward those who wreck them. We will have to wait for the outcome of the case (the Sena's name and symbol) in the Supreme Court. There's the issue of Marathi asmita (pride) and the attempt to break off Mumbai from Maharashtra. Many government offices are going elsewhere and to Gujarat. They (BJP) always wanted to weaken Mumbai and the Shiv Sena stopped it. Now they want to weaken the Sena. We and the NCP (SP) epitomise Marathi asmita. So they decided to split both parties. This is the first time helicopters and chartered flights were used for campaigning by CM Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Eknath Shinde. People are getting used to casting votes for money. If the BJP gives a certain amount, the Sena pays more. This is exactly what happened in the Konkan. If they think they can win Mumbai like this, they are mistaken. The people in Mumbai are different. They have decided they don't want to do this. The BJP can do this in slums and they did this is in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Our workers have gone from house to house and we have worked for years. We think we can win in Mumbai. We will have a post-poll alliance. The Congress has ideological differences with Raj Thackeray. I told them that if the BJP is to be defeated, taking Raj Thackeray on board was necessary, but the high command left it to local units. But we have aligned with the Congress in many places outside Mumbai. Muslims have voted for us in the LS and assembly polls. They voted for Uddhav, who did excellent work during Covid. The Congress feels it can get the Muslim vote. Our best wishes are with them. If we need support, we are sure they will help us....