Confident of bagging the entire Marathi vote, Shiv Sena rejects offer for a tie-up with Raj Thacekray's MNS. Uddhav seems to have sensed his opportunity to permanently close the door on his cousin's party
Mangal Bhanushali, who headed BJP's Gujarati cell, joins the Shiv Sena in the presence of party president Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Uddhav Thackeray on Monday ruthlessly snubbed cousin Raj Thackeray's 'no strings attached' offer of a tie-up in a bid to keep his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena alive.
In a body blow to Raj, who is facing a wipeout in the coming civic elections, Matoshree on Monday rejected outright the MNS's proposition without even leaving any space for further discussion or negotiation.
Sources said the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was ready for any kind of agreement and would have agreed to any number of seats the Shiv Sena offered, including whichever ward the latter chose to allot.
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Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray outside his home at Krishna Kunj in Shivaji Park after returning from Nashik on Monday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaokar said he had personally visited Matoshree on Sunday to discuss the possibility of an alliance. "In the interest of the Marathi manoos, I had gone to Uddhav Thackeray," he said. "But, unfortunately there was no response."
Quick to react to this statement, Uddhav said there was no such proposal and that the Sena has decided to go solo for the civic polls.
No show in Nashik
The developments come when virtually half of all MNS ruling corporators have abandoned the party in Nashik, with the situation looking worse in other places.
Bala Nandgaonkar had visited Matoshree on Sunday to discuss the possibility of an alliance
If MNS fails in the civic polls, as is expected, it could very well be the last nail in its coffin. The proposal to ally with the Sena, from which Raj broke away bitterly to launch the MNS, was his last-ditch effort to retain any relevance.
No split factor
Senior political analyst Prakash Joshi said the main reason why Uddhav snubbed the MNS was because the Matoshree leadership was very confident that there will not be any split in the Marathi vote as it happened in the past.
"It's too late for the two Thackeray cousins to come together citing the Marathi Manoos cause," Joshi told mid-day.
"MNS has targeted the Sena on several fronts, especially on the style of functioning in the BMC, which made an alliance that much more difficult."
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From the time the MNS was formed, the Sena has been bleeding due to the split in the Marathi vote.
During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the MNS played spoilsport with all its six candidates from Mumbai securing over one lakh votes. This dented the Shiv Sena-BJP combine and benefited the Congress-NCP alliance.
There were accusations from several quarters that the Congress-NCP went soft on Raj despite his tirades against North Indians and minorities was because they wanted him to be seen as the leader of Marathi Manoos.
Even in the 2009 state assembly elections, the MNS won 13 constituencies, many of which were held by the Sena.
Now, Uddhav is certain that the MNS no more has the currency to attract the Marathi vote at the expense of the Sena and is keen to shut the door on the rebel party.
13
Number of constituencies MNS won in 2009 Assembly polls
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