Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said they will welcome the reported alliance between Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray’s MNS if it protects the state’s interests and keeps the communal BJP away. He said that the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance keeps trampling the ideology of Maratha icons like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Mahatma Phule and creates a communal divide.