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.
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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.