Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Will try to reunite Uddhav, Raj if given a chance, says MNS's Nandgaonkar

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Bala Nandgaonkar on Friday said if he gets an opportunity, he will try to bring estranged Thackeray cousins Uddhav and Raj together.

Nandgaonkar was talking to reporters after filing his nomination as candidate of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS from Shivadi assembly seat in Mumbai.

To the question whether he will make efforts to bring the Thackeray cousins together, he said, "I had done it before, and will do it in the future if I get a chance." Although he is an MNS "sainik" (solider), he is also a "sainik" of late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, he said.

Nandgaonkar became famous in the 1990s as a giant-killer after defeating Chhagan Bhujbal who had quit the undivided Shiv Sena to join the Congress. He himself left the Shiv Sena a decade later when Raj Thackeray fell out with Uddhav Thackeray and quit the party.

The MNS has so far declared candidates for more than 50 out of the 288 seats. Assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra on November 20.

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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