Shiv Sena (UBT) Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut hints that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s party can be part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). But both Congress and MNS have dismissed the claim. On Monday, Raut, while speaking to the media, claimed that the MNS chief is of the opinion that Congress should be part of the alliance for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. “In recent times, I have met Raj Thackeray on several occasions. During the interaction, the MNS chief was of the opinion that elections should be contested as a united MVA front,” Raut mentioned.
However, Raut was quick to clarify that, “This is Raj Thackeray’s thought and not a decision.” This statement created a stir among the political circles, including the Congress and the MNS. Congress leaders did not make any official statement. However, a senior Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, said, “Congress would prefer going solo instead of being part of the alliance where MNS is also one of the allies.” He further said, “This is merely an opinion within a section of Congress leaders. A final call on this would be taken by the high command in Delhi.”
Sanjay Raut
In August, mid-day had reported about a possible rejig in Maharashtra’s political alliance. mid-day had later reported that MVA would expand by including Raj, or Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray could walk out of the alliance to join hands with the MNS.
After Raut made his statement, MNS, too, reacted to the development and maintained that no such proposal has been made by the party. “Rajsaheb will decide on the alliance and take a final call on the same. But, for now, when there is no proposal, there is no point in talking about it,” MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande added.
The elections for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations are likely to be conducted at the end of the calendar year 2025 or early 2026. Now that MNS and Congress have taken a stand, it would be interesting to see whether Raj Thackeray joins the Opposition leaders who will be meeting with the state Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam on October 14.
Sanjay Raut on Saturday had mentioned that all Opposition leaders, including Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal, and Raj Thackeray, would be part of the delegation that will hold talks with the state election commission on issues pertaining to upcoming civic elections.
Protests against ‘misrule’ in TMC
On Monday, in Thane, Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS, Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP, and Congress came together to protest against the alleged misrule of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), which is considered a bastion of Eknath Shinde, the deputy chief minister and chief leader of Shiv Sena.
Jitendra Awhad
A delegation of the Opposition parties met the TMC commissioner and demanded a probe into irregularities in the functioning of civic officials, especially several officials occupying one post for several years, in violation of service rules. NCP leader Jitendra Awhad demanded a white paper on the transfers and postings. “The TMC should conduct a probe and bring out a white paper on all the irregularities and postings, too,” Awhad added.
