Raj Thackeray-led MNS to hold 3-day session amid Marathi row, run up to local bodies polls in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Switching to poll mode, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is holding three-day-long brainstorming session in the popular hill station of Igatpuri in Nashik district in the backdrop of the issue of Marathi-pride and Marathi-language in the run up to the local bodies polls in the state.

Besides, the meeting in Igatpuri, which is nestled in the picturesque Sahyadri Ranges of Western Ghats, will also provide some clarity to the party workers on talks about an alliance with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

The coming together of the Thackeray cousins - after two decades - on the issue of Marathi - is very significant because of the forthcoming local bodies elections involving 29 municipal corporations, 257 municipal councils, 26 zilla parishads, 289 panchayat samitis would go to polls - which accounts for over 60 per cent of state’s population spread across the five geographical regions - Konkan, Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha.

Raj Thackeray will be guiding the three-day meeting of state-level and district-level office bearers.

Raj had floated MNS on 9 March, 2006 and has the ‘railway engine’ symbol, Uddhav now heads Shiv Sena (UBT) and has the ‘mashaal’ (flaming torch) symbol. The year 2024 came with a mixed bag.

While Raj extended support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, he contested the Vidhan Sabha polls independently.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the Maha Vikas Aghadi performed very well in Maharashtra, however, BJP-led MahaYuti under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with the support of the RSS turned tables and ensured that the opposition benches did not get the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

In the 2024 Vidhan Sabha polls, Shiv Sena could barely get 20 seats and MNS failed to open its account.

If the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS agree for a tie-up, one of the crucial things would be seat sharing as they command strength in the same areas in the urban pockets of the state.