The left, which has fought ‘bloody’ battles in the city against the unified Shiv Sena, has extended a helping hand to Uddhav Thackeray. A Communist Party of India (CPI) delegation met Thackeray at his residence on Wednesday to pledge full support to his party’s candidate in the Andheri East bypolls.

The Thackeray Sena spokesperson said in a statement that the CPI will stand with the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the fight against the BJP. “CPI Mumbai Secretary Milind Ranade, senior leaders Prakash Reddy, Prakash Narwekar, Baba Sawant, trade union leaders Vijay Dalvi and Babli Rawat were warmly received by Uddhavji at Matoshree today,” he said.