Raj Thackeray plans MNS revamp ahead of local bodies' polls

Mumbai: With the local bodies’ polls ahead, Raj Thackeray is set to undertake a major revamp of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). However, it is not yet clear whether the MNS would forge alliances at local level with other parties, particularly the BJP, or go alone. 

Coinciding with the 19th anniversary of the MNS on Sunday, the 56-year-old Raj dropped indications of major organisational changes. 

Coinciding with the Gudi Padwa festivities on March 30, Raj would address a mega rally at the historic Shivaji Park at Dadar here, when he is expected to spell out future strategies of the party.

Addressing the 19th anniversary celebrations in Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune, Raj said that in the next couple of days new responsibilities would be announced. “I will speak in detail on many issues on Gudi Padwa,” he said.

However, we went on to add: "Today, many parties have this question: how do the people of this party say together even though their MLAs have come and gone, MPs have come and gone?…I want to say, we are not political feriwalas…that today you sit on this of the road and tomorrow on the other side of the road…we will build a shop….but for this we need to strengthen the organisation.”

Raj said that tasks would be assigned and there would be fortnightly reviews. "If I feel that someone is not doing work properly, I will not hesitate to remove them," he said. 

With no MNS MLA now in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Raj faces a big challenge. 

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 9 March, 2006 was not an easy task for him. 

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 mentor Sharad Pawar and became Deputy Chief Minister and claimed the NCP party.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP reached out to him and he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. He decided not to contest the polls, however, extended support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

It must be mentioned that Raj is an admirer of the Gujarat model of Modi, who was previously the Gujarat Chief Minister and had even toured the state in August 2011. However, in 2024 Vidhan Sabha polls, Raj’s MNS could not win a single seat and his son Amit Thackeray lost the polls from Mahim.