‘Sena makes sampatti in power, seeks sympathy when out’

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray spelled out his party’s clear intention to fight the forthcoming civic body elections in Maharashtra on its own, on Saturday. “My party’s manifesto will announce unbelievable plans for Mumbai city,” he said.

It may be recalled that Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Maharashtra deputy chief minister, had also recently offered political advice to MNS along the same lines (as reported in First India) when he said, “Considering that the Shiv Sena is at its lowest point (on the political graph). It would be politically prudent for the MNS to field candidates in each and every seat (236 seats in all) for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.”

Speaking during an interview with a regional television channel, Raj Thackeray blamed his cousin and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray for diverting from the philosophy and political culture espoused by the late Balasaheb Thackeray.

“In good times (when in government) the intention is only to rake in the money and property and,  Turn to P6 

when times are bad, he gets busy collecting sympathy. It was I who told Balasaheb that I would announce Uddhav’s name as Sena chief at the Mahabaleshwar conclave of the party. The whole debate whether it would be Uddhav or me would have ended once and for all. It was ‘putra prem’ (fatherly love) that eventually led to the decline of the Shiv Sena,” said the MNS chief.

He disagreed with the perception being created that the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Sena would derive public sympathy in forthcoming elections in Maharashtra. “When you hear Marathi messaging over mobile phones, or see the thousands of Maharashtrian citizens now getting jobs in the Indian Railways, it is due to the efforts of my party. When Nupur Sharma inadvertently made a comment about the Prophet Mohammed, it created a furore and a beheading followed,” he said.

When Asaduddin Owaisi (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul chief) lampoons and denigrat es Hindu gods, there is not a murmur of protest, added the MNS chief, who is recovering from a hip replacement surgery.

He noted that if a proposal for merging the 40 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs with his party was placed before him, he would consider it at the relevant time.