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Now, Raj Thackeray plans anti-BJP front with help from Kejriwal, Mamata, Stalin, Akhilesh

MNS chief Raj Thackeray recently met Sonia Gandhi, but Maharashtra Congress leaders opposed to joining hands ahead of state assembly polls.

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New Delhi: Rendered irrelevant in Maharashtra politics, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is seeking to revive his fortunes by rallying anti-BJP forces.

Thackeray, who met former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi Monday, is learnt to have sought meetings with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M.K. Stalin.

The MNS described Thackeray’s meeting with Gandhi as a mere ‘courtesy call’, but Maharashtra Congress leaders believe he is trying to cobble together an opposition front ahead of the assembly elections due in the state in a few months’ time, though Thackeray’s aides insist the meetings are only about alleged EVM tampering.

False dawn

Once seen as uncle Bal Thackeray’s political heir, the MNS chief finds himself on the political margins in Maharashtra today. His meeting with the former Congress president — who was at the receiving end of the late Shiv Sena founder’s jibes and diatribe — came as a surprise to Congressmen, who have been lukewarm to the MNS’ overtures to the party.

Thackeray’s MNS had stayed away from the Lok Sabha elections, but he managed to create a buzz after addressing some well-attended rallies in 10 constituencies, where he attempted to ‘expose’ the Narendra Modi government. His speeches went viral, especially the slogan ‘Lava re video’ (play the video). The elections, however, provided a reality check, with the BJP-Shiv Sena combine winning in 8 out of these 10 constituencies.

Political analyst and Congress Rajya Sabya MP Kumar Ketkar is of the view that Thackeray is seeking to “put up a joint fight against Modi-Shah” by meeting opposition leaders.

“While regaining political relevance may be a reason for Thackeray meeting Gandhi, it is not the focal point,” he said, adding that Sonia Gandhi is open to meeting anyone ready to take on the BJP’s powerful duo.


Also read: Raj Thackeray wants a Modi-mukt Bharat, and is shooting from Congress-NCP shoulder


Decline of MNS

The MNS, launched in 2009, espoused the ‘sons of the soil’ ideology and ‘Marathi pride’ in a more emphatic and aggressive manner than the Shiv Sena, and tasted quick success.

At one point in time, it even wrested the Shiv Sena bastions of Dadar and Mahim in the Mumbai civic polls and state assembly polls, respectively.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, it contested 12 seats and drew more than 1 lakh votes, but, more importantly, played a significant role in damaging the Shiv Sena’s prospects in many seats. In the assembly elections that year, the party got 13 MLAs while playing spoiler for the Shiv Sena in a number of seats.

But after that initial success, the party floundered, reduced to only one assembly seat in 2014.

Resistance within Congress 

The Congress and its ally, the National Congress Party, are vehemently against an alliance with the MNS in Maharashtra.

The Congress, with its secular agenda, may find it difficult to accommodate the polarising party within its ranks and make it appealing for its voters. The optics of the meeting, considering Thackeray’s Marathi-centric approach, also hints at the Congress’ turn to hard-line politics, in a state where it continues to lose ground.

“This is a clear sign that the Congress is trying to consolidate the Hindu vote,” a senior NCP leader told ThePrint. “It will only end up helping the BJP and Shiv Sena.”

However, Ketkar says contrary to popular opinion, the MNS is actually an inclusive party.

“If you listen to Thackeray’s speeches carefully, you’ll realise he’s not anti-Mulsim or anti-caste,” Ketkar said. “The MNS is centred on Marathi identity, not Marathi-chauvinistic.”

Congress and MNS workers have been at odds with each other ever since the party was formed, the most recent clash being over the issue of hawkers’ eviction less than two years ago.

“The MNS brings nothing to the table for us,” a senior Mumbai Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint. “The Marathi vote they have will not be converted to one for Congress-NCP.”

The leader added that the MNS had explicitly mentioned that the Thackeray-Gandhi meeting was about EVMs, adding it in no way implied that it was open to such an alliance.

However, political analyst Pratap Asbe disagreed that the MNS would not aid the Congress’ poll prospects.

“In areas like Mumbai, the MNS can help bolster the weak Congress-NCP cadres,” Asbe said. “It will definitely make a difference to a certain extent, it will be a show of collective strength to fight a joint election.”


Also read: Maharashtra Opposition to use corruption to target ‘clean’ Fadnavis govt as elections near


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8 COMMENTS

  1. It’s ironical that MNS chief Raj Thackeray is trying to re-group all the defeatist forces except DMK’s Stalin in Tamil Nadu, in just concluded Lok Sabha elections. No wonders then that all his attempts to form some meaningful anti-BJP platform may prove futile at least in near future. Needless to say, AAP and SP may be of little use to him in his latest political endeavour to ‘regain’ his lost political ground in Maharashtra.

  2. The fact that Mrs Sonia Gandhi took this guy seriously , whom people of Maharahtra don’t. , is good enough to exhibit the confidence of INC

    • All family parties like congress,DMK, TDP, TRS,NC,NCP,SP,BSP,RJD,RLD,PDP,JDS,etc have made millions in the past decades and BJP is putting plans to curb that in the long run. Incidentally for what ever reasons which is difficult to guess Modiji with his most useless,harmful,non economist,non politician Arun Jaitley have not done anything to catch UPA1,UPA scams have not done anything to catch these thieves.The present FM,without any doubt much more honest and honorable in relation to Arun Jaitley,she can do well to take the help of Dr.Swamy to catch these thives.But MNS is too small and does not fit in these descriptions and merely looking at how he got his wealth will silence him for ever.

  3. Here he is wrong. He thinks that Congress and others will agree and protest against EVM voting, but the reality is that they might be making plans of how to hack EVM prior to BJP. They too do not want EVM to be scrapped. And no one will come with him, as everyone has different agendas and strategies. If prior to 2014, he had criticized Congress and its allies, he might forget it but they will not forget it.

  4. The last time that a politician went around the country, trying to make a anti BJP Front, was Shri Chandrababu Naidu. One knows what was his fate in the Lok Sabha and state assembly. It is surprising that people are even giving Raj Thackeray any time

  5. 1. One just requires common sense to understand that MNS boss Raj Thackeray is a politician who has been defeated badly and that he is a frustrated man. Right now he cannot do anything except raising irrelevant questions about Electronic Voting Machines. 2. I say that if Raj Thackeray’s politics has to be taken seriously he would have to provide answers to two questions: (a) what were reasons for poor performance of his party MNS, in 2014 Maharashtra Assembly election? (b) What has done since 2014? He made a fool of himself him by joining hands with NCP in recently held Lok Sabha election. 3. I am reminded of former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde’s remarks that “political parties will promise anything to come to power and do anything to retain it”. These remarks are actually a straight-forward comment as regards conduct of politicians like Raj Thackeray. One whether those remarks are more appropriate for leaders all regional parties like MNS, NCP, SP, BSP Trinamool Congress and TDP. 4. Regional parties, as we all know, were setup, survived and grew during last four decades. During seventies and few later decades Congress was only national party. But Congress miserably failed to give political space to many unorganized sections of society giving an opportunity to regional leaders to form anti-Congress political outfits. 5. Further, the Congress party failed to curb massive use of unaccounted money in elections and at same time regional parties mastered art of caste politics management with help of money power. 6. I say that regional parties or their alliances cannot form a stable government in the Centre and from that point of view role of regional parties like MNS, BSP, SP, RJD, NCP, Trinamool Congress, TDP, etc. should be restricted to bare minimum. We also know that not one leader of these parties is fit to be a Prime Minister as no one is having a national image or a national vision. All of them must make efforts to become eligible to govern vast country like ours.

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