MNS chief Raj Thackeray.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Even before the vote is cast, the post-poll posturing has started in Maharashtra with Raj Thackeray saying that MNS would be part of the next BJP-led Maha Yuti government headed by a chief minister from BJP party
Raj’s statement came minutes after Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that his party will fully back Raj’s son Amit Thackeray in Mahim seat of Mumbai as the latter has unilaterally supported the NDA during the Lok Sabha elections.
An Instagram post of Fadnavis, walking side-by-side with Thackeray caused a stir social media.
Fadnavis and Raj appeared separately in an election special programme of a Marathi news channel on Wednesday - just a day after the nomination process ended.
Over the last five years, Fadnavis, a former two-time Chief Minister and ex-Leader of the Opposition has kept Raj, the charismatic nephew of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, in good humour.
Raj is the estranged cousin of Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray.
Appearing in the event before Raj, Fadnavis said the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is the chief leader of Shiv Sena, initially agreed to back Amit’s candidacy.
However, the Shiv Sena insisted on fielding sitting MLA Sada Sarvankar to prevent voters from shifting allegiance to Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT).
Fadnavis, however, was optimistic, when he said: “When we (leaders of Maha Yuti) meet, we will discuss and try to find a solution.”
The historic Shivaji Park in Dadar falls in Mahim, has witnessed the birth of the Shiv Sena (1966) and then the MNS, which came into existence in 2006 when Raj came out of the Shiv Sena fold following differences with Uddhav.
Later, when Raj was asked about the outcome of polls, he sounded positive about Maha Yuti. “It appears that the government will be of Maha Yuti…three months ago (after the Lok Sabha polls) the situation was different. However, the Haryana poll results have come as a boost…it is still not that easy,” he said.
Asked who the Chief Minister would be, he said: “The Chief Minister would be of BJP, it appears so…with us.”
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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