What would be the next move of Raj Thackeray?

Mumbai: The charismatic Raj Thackeray reads the works of Mahatma Gandhi, the Apostle of Peace and so as Adolf Hitler, the ruthless German dictator.

But, the 55-year-old often takes inspiration from Ekalavya, the character from epic Mahabharata.

Raj, the President of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which turned 18 on March 9, is the nephew of late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

A poem penned by Dr Vageesh Saraswat, a journalist-writer and filmmaker, who is a senior functionary of MNS, is liked by Raj.

“Ekalavya anghuta katwakar, hamesha chatpatayange. Satya ka virodh Drona ki mazboori hai. Rajguru ki padvi zaroori hai. Dronacharya badal nahin sakte. Badal nahi sakte Kaurav aur Pandav. Magaar badal sakte hai Ekalavya. Shraddha ke shaap se ho sakte hain mukt” - these couplets from ’Eklavya ka Anguutha’ sums up his challenges.

Proposing his cousin Uddhav Thackeray’s name for Shiv Sena Presidentship in 2003 at the famous Mahabaleshwar conclave to coming out of Shiv Sena fold in 2005 and raising MNS on March 9, 2006 was not an easy task for him. Life was full of challenges as he has to start from scratch.

In the last two decades, Raj has come a long way, which includes successes and failures.

Coinciding with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Raj is in talks with the BJP-led NDA - and he along with his son Amit Thackeray even met Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Before that, Raj had held extensive deliberations with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who calls the shot for the party and the Maha Yuti alliance.

Raj’s close aide and former minister Bala Nandgaonkar had stated that the MNS has asked for three seats, however, discussions were on for two seats.

According to reports, Raj has asked for the Mumbai South and Nashik seats.

Coinciding with the Gudi Padwa festivities on April 9, Raj would show a massive show of strength at the historic Shivaji Park at Dadar.

In 2009, in Lok Sabha polls, though MNS did not win any seats, it damaged the prospects of the Sena-BJP saffron alliance in Mumbai - and in Vidhan Sabha polls won 11 of the 288 seats and damaged the prospects of Sena and BJP in urban pockets.

In 2014, the MNS could not win a single seat in Lok Sabha polls but managed just one seat in the Assembly.

In 2019, Raj’s party did not contest the Lok Sabha polls but addressed a dozen rallies targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah - and became close to NCP-Congress. However, in the Vidhan Sabha, his party could win only one seat.

The year 2019 was a turning point when Shiv Sena broke away from BJP and joined hands with Congress-NCP to launch Maha Vikas Aghadi and the government was toppled in June 2022 by Shinde with the help of BJP. A year later in June 2023, Ajit Pawar raised a banner of revolt against his uncle and became Deputy Chief Minister and claimed the NCP.

There are challenges ahead, but these would settle.