Four former MNS legislators join BJP

January 14, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 09:48 am IST - MUMBAI:

In a major blow to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), four former MLAs of Raj Thackeray’s party on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Among them, Pravin Darekar, former MLA from Magathane in the western suburbs, and Vasant Gite, ex-MLA from Nasik, were among Mr. Thackeray’s close associates who played a key role in building the party apparatus in their regions. Both had resigned from the MNS in the aftermath of heavy electoral losses in the Lok Sabha elections in April 2014, and the Assembly elections in October 2014.

The MNS, which performed spectacularly in 2009, riding on a violent campaign unleashed against North Indian migrants in urban pockets of Mumbai, Pune, Nasik and Thane, had suffered crushing defeats in both the elections.

The MNS lost all 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested following the Narendra Modi wave. The party’s 2009 tally of 12 MLAs shrunk to just one in the Assembly elections, and that lone MLA also came from rural Junnar in Pune district, and not from the four urban pockets where the party had built base.

Earlier, MNS MLA from Ghatkopar East Ram Kadam had quit the party and joined the BJP shortly before the Assembly elections. Mr. Kadam retained the seat on BJP ticket.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.