Struggling to stay relevant in the era of political upheavals, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will, for the first time since its inception 14 years ago, hold its anniversary programme in Navi Mumbai on Monday. The move comes in the run-up to the elections to the 111-member Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC).
Most political parties have begun preparations for the civic polls, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is banking on its two MLAs — Ganesh Naik and Manda Mhatre — to swing a surprise, holding its State executive council in Nerul last month. The Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress too announced that they would contest the polls unitedly as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), and a number of sitting BJP corporators have started joining the MVA.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray, jumping on the bandwagon, will address his party members in the city. “It is an honour for us that Raj saheb has decided to hold the anniversary programme in Navi Mumbai, outside Mumbai. This programme is meant to give us directions on party’s functioning for the next one year. We will follow what saheb tells us,” Gajanan Kale, MNS’s Navi Mumbai city president, said.
With the Sena joining hands with the Congress and NCP, the MNS has suddenly swung into its Hindutva avatar, hoping to cash in on the Sena-BJP vote bank. The party also held a protest march in Mumbai in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) recently, demanding that illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants be thrown out.
Apart from Navi Mumbai, the MNS, with its new-found love for Hindutva, is targeting the 115-member Aurangabad Municipal Corporation polls. The party will be celebrating the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, as per the Hindu calendar, in the city.
On Sunday, right-wing Hindutva activist Milind Ekbote, who is also an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence, met Mr. Thackeray at the latter’s residence to invite him for a programme organised to mark the death anniversary of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
According to sources, despite its pro-Hindutva campaign, the MNS is unlikely to join hands with the BJP and contest the polls. “Going by the history between the two parties, it will be difficult for us to immediately convince the voters about our alliance. We may have a few friendly fights, but alliance is not on the cards as of now,” a senior MNS functionary said.
