A day ahead of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s scheduled appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the IL&FS-Kohinoor CTNL case, the MNS chief seems to have found unexpected support from his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday.
“I do not expect any solid outcome from the inquiry,” the Sena chief said in reply to a query on the summons issued to his younger cousin. Mr. Thackeray was talking to reporters at his residence Matoshri, where former Congress MLA from Igatpuri Nirmala Gavit and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rashmi Bagal joined the Sena.
Opposition parties, including the Congress and NCP, have rallied behind Raj Thackeray, terming the ED’s summons as political vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the BJP didn’t have any role in the ED notice.
Following reports that MNS workers will be gathering outside the ED office on Thursday, the party chief made a second appeal to workers on Wednesday. “I am repeating what I have already told you. Do not take any action which will cause destruction of public property or will cause inconvenience to common people or damage the public and private property,” he said, adding that he will give appropriate answers to the ED as required.
The MNS did not contest the Lok Sabha elections, but Raj Thackeray campaigned across the State against the BJP. He is currently also at the forefront of the anti-EVM campaign in the State and had even held meetings with Chief Election Commissioner of India, Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.
