Mumbai: For the first time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share the stage with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on May 17 as they campaign jointly for the Mahayuti alliance for the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
This was decided as the MNS secured approval from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for holding its tally at the historic Shivaji Park in Dadar. Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said, “We secured the permission for holding the rally. However, since we are not contesting and we are supporting the Mahayuti, the whole program will be held under the banner of Mahayuti.”
The MNS has decided not to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and expressed its total support to PM Modi. Raj Thackeray at his annual Gudi Padwa rally held on April 9 said the country needs strong leadership and hence asked his workers to campaign for the ruling alliance.
It may be recalled that Raj Thackeray had gone to New Delhi last month to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding forming an alliance. However, the BJP declined to allot any seat and Raj Thackeray was told to support the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
This support did not go down very well with many of the MNS workers as in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it was Raj Thackeray, who aggressively campaigned against PM Modi and asked the electorate to vote him out. Few office bearers even resigned from the party.
Raj Thackeray’s political journey has been a roller coaster ride ever since he founded the MNS by quitting the Shiv Sena in 2006 after his fallout with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray.
The MNS faced a setback in its debut 2007 BMC elections where the MNS secured just seven seats. However, this changed dramatically when Raj Thackeray played up the Marathi Manoos card to the hilt in 2008 targeting the North Indian community in Mumbai. This paid rich dividends in 2009 parliamentary and assembly polls severely damaging the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.
The 2012 BMC poll also added 28 seats in his kitty. However, things then turned, sliding when MNS then was almost wiped out in the 2014 and 2018 Assembly polls as it was able to secure just one seat in both the elections. Faced by this setback, Raj Thackeray took an ideological U-turn and adopted the ‘Hindutva’ agenda in January 2020. He even adopted a saffron flag with a Rajmudra (the royal seal) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, with the party’s name below it. He has also desisted from attacking north Indian community in recent times.
This actually answered my downside, thank you!
I’ve been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thank you, I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your website?
Terrific work! This is the type of info that are meant to be shared across the internet. Shame on Google for now not positioning this publish upper! Come on over and consult with my web site . Thanks =)
Hi my friend! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include almost all vital infos. I would like to see more posts like this.
I’ve recently started a blog, the info you offer on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.