Amid Exodus, Marathi manoos Raj Thackeray goes silent

MUMBAI: For a man who can draw thousands of supporters at the drop of a hat and is surrounded by a battery of aides, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's visit to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday was an eye opener.

Thackeray was flanked only by his personal assistant Harshal Deshpande and Abhijeet Phanse, a former Sena functionary who had only recently joined the MNS, and another party worker. His close aides, former Mazgaon MLA Bala Nandgaonkar and Dadar MLA Nitin Sardesai were both missing, leading to speculation that there was more trouble in the party on a day when three former MLAs quit and joined the BJP along with hundreds of their supporters. Nine years after he formed the MNS after quitting the Shiv Sena, Raj Thackeray’s party is coming apart.

While three ex-MLAs had joined the BJP, there are fears that more might jump the ship. According to a senior MNS leader, Thackeray seems to have fallen out with Nandgaonkar and Sardesai as well—the two have not been seen at Thackeray’s Dadar home for a while now. “Nandgaonkar has been told by Raj himself to stay away, while Sardesai too has fallen out, though we don’t know the issue,” said an MNS leader on condition of anonymity. He added that even Shalini Thackeray, Raj’s sister-in-law, has no relevance at his home now. MNS leaders said that while Thackeray may be miffed with the three for different reasons, it also highlights the crisis facing the party.

“While he has tried to model himself on former Sena chief Bal Thackeray, the fact is that he is not willing to function like him. Raj is unwilling to listen; he listens only what he wants to,” said another party insider. He also said that former Borivali MNS MLA Pravin Darekar, who was with Raj since his Shiv Sena days, decided to join BJP because his voice was stifled. He added that senior party leaders had advised Raj to mollify Darekar, but he refused and to and only contacted Darekar when it was too late. While Nangaonkar was not available for comment, Sardesai said, “This is completely wrong, I can say for myself that I have extremely good relations with Raj and we meet almost every single day.” Shalini Thackeray also claimed that party leaders have been staying away because “Raj wanted to assess certain situations on his own”.