Cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray of Maharashtra’s Thackeray family have only one thing in common, apart from their surname: They are both aiming to emerge from the shadow of their allies in state assembly elections later this year.
Firebrand district chief Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Raj Thackeray has announced that his party will contest alone in the upcoming state elections.Thackeray announced at a party meeting that the MNS will contest 200-225 seats in the Maharashtra elections.
This comes as a surprise as the MNS leader, often caricatured by political pundits and people as Bal Thackeray, had declared his unconditional support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, his cousin and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has also stepped up and has begun selecting candidates to run for the state Assembly, according to India Today.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, who is also a former Maharashtra Chief Minister, further asked all public relations heads or ‘sampark pramukhs’ to submit a report based on the results of the Lok Sabha elections on whether they should contest the elections with the support of an alliance or on their own.
Besides, Uddhav has also sought a report on whether officials of his candidate and the candidate of the allied party cooperated in the general elections. Uddhav Thackeray will be seeking a report on a set of criteria.
The criteria for requesting the submission of a report include: If the Shiv Sena (UBT) chooses to run without an alliance; What are the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and party members’ opinions on it, and was the booth chief elected as stated?
Other criteria include cooperation between MVA allies Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Indian National Congress party members, which constituencies are favourable for the Shiv Sena (UBT), its chances of victory, which parties should be given seats which are unfavourable for the Shiv Sena (UBT) and whether BLA agents are registered with the electoral office.
(With inputs from Ritvick Arun Bhalekar)
