Dear readers,Sibling rivalry is among nature’s oldest dramas and Bollywood’s most reliable plot device. From Cain and Abel to Karan Arjun, the brother-versus-brother pitch has always delivered. Mythology had Ravana and Vibhishana, Bali and Sugriva, bound by blood but divided by ideals.In Indian politics, though, it’s rarely about ideals. It’s about ground realities: turf wars, vote banks, and family reunions staged for elections.Take Uddhav and Raj Thackeray. The estranged cousins will share a stage on July 5 at a Marathi Pride rally after two decades of antipathy. Their joint invitation issued on July 1 was more than a PR stunt; it was a cry for survival. The once-formidable Thackeray clan now sits on the political margins of Maharashtra.Matoshree—the family residence-cum-party HQ—has lost its sheen since the Shiv Sena split of 2022. Uddhav’s faction lost the party name and symbol to Eknath Shinde. Raj, meanwhile, who floated the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2006, had a brief 13-seat flash in the 2009 Assembly election, after which his career saw a string of flops, plummeting to zero seats in 2024.Now, battered, their brand bleeding, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election looming, the duo has turned to Marathi identity politics. The rally invite is titled “Marathicha Awaaz” (The Voice of Marathi) and is addressed to “our Marathi sisters and brothers”—a clear signal of what’s on offer: nostalgia, regional pride, and a last-ditch effort to revive the Thackeray magic that Balasaheb Thackeray once wielded.Will it work? Too early to say. While Uddhav calls this a celebration of Marathi Manoos unity, the political message is sharper: the brothers are united in opposing the Centre’s push to impose Hindi in Maharashtra’s schools. Sanjay Raut even posted an old picture of Raj and Uddhav standing in front of Balasaheb’s portrait.Maharashtra is no stranger to sibling spats. Remember Sharad Pawar’s family feud? Supriya Sule (his daughter) and Ajit Pawar (his nephew) went head-to-head in Baramati in 2024. Supriya won. Ajit later expressed regret for fielding his wife, Sunetra, against his “sister”. “I love all my sisters,” he said. “Politics should not enter homes.” A little late, but nevertheless prescient. Observers say Ajit wants to avoid looking like the villain in the Pawar family drama. Supriya, too, insisted it was “not a family fight” but a battle of ideologies. It’s a sign of foresight—they never know when they might have to reunite.Down south, Tamil Nadu’s Stalin-Alagiri split in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is legend. Siblings K. Kanimozhi and M.K. Stalin get along, but M.K. Alagiri was expelled by their father, Karunanidhi, during the succession battle in 2014. Still, signs of a thaw have emerged. Last December, nine of Alagiri’s supporters wrote to Stalin asking to be taken back. In June, Stalin even visited Alagiri in Madurai. The elder brother reportedly asked that his loyalists be reinstated, clarifying that he wanted nothing for himself.In Kerala, when Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of the Congress veteran K. Karunakaran, joined the BJP last year, her brother, the Congress MP K. Muraleedharan, wasn’t amused. He vowed not to let the BJP use their father’s image. Ditto with the Antony brothers—when Anil joined the BJP in 2023, brother Ajith in the Congress predicted he’d be “discarded like curry leaves”. So far, Anil’s doing just fine as a BJP national secretary and spokesperson.The D.K. brothers in Karnataka are a rare exception. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and former MP D.K. Suresh have each other’s backs. On July 3, Suresh openly said he wanted Shivakumar as Chief Minister, but acknowledged Siddaramaiah is “our leader” for now. That’s loyalty with a caveat. Shivakumar returned the favour last year when the Enforcement Directorate summoned Suresh.In Madhya Pradesh, Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh and his brother Lakshman Singh have often been at odds. Lakshman was expelled last month after he repeatedly slammed Rahul Gandhi. He once defected to the BJP, then returned to contest the 2023 Assembly election on a Congress ticket. The two brothers often disagree publicly, on the Ram Mandir, on EVMs, even on the Pahalgam massacre. Still, Digvijaya refuses to denounce him, saying: “He is my brother, and will remain my brother.”But the family feud that could make a whole Netflix series is the Samajwadi Party story in Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh and brother Shivpal were embroiled in a public spat in 2016. Shivpal went on to form his own party but insisted it was done with “Netaji” Mulayam’s blessing. But when Mulayam died in 2022, Shivpal turned emotional and did a ghar wapsi (homecoming) to the Samajwadi Party.In Bihar’s Lok Janshakti Party camp, Ram Vilas Paswan’s legacy lives on in two warring factions. His brother Pashupati Kumar Paras and son Chirag Paswan lead rival camps but continue to feature Ram Vilas’s photo in their party offices—an attempt at future unity or just the convenient use of a brand?Of course, the Gandhi story is evergreen. The parting of ways between the Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi families. The continued chill between cousins Rahul and Varun in two opposing political parties stands in sharp contrast to the deep bonds between Rahul and his sister Priyanka. Surely the stuff of another web series.Is all this about brotherhood in politics? Or is it the politics of brotherhood? Let us know what you think.Until then,Anand Mishra | Political Editor, FrontlineWe hope you’ve been enjoying our newsletters featuring a selection of articles that we believe will be of interest to a cross-section of our readers. Tell us if you like what you read. And also, what you don’t like! Mail us at frontline@thehindu.co.inCONTRIBUTE YOUR COMMENTS