Maharashtra polls: Raj Thackeray-led MNS may gain from Shiv Sena-BJP split but faces other hurdles

MUMBAI: Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may be one of the gainers from the split between BJP and Shiv Sena. In 2009, MNS damaged the Sena-BJP combine in over 40 seats and got over 5% votes in these constituencies.

“Our calculations show that we lost 41 seats because the votes got divided between the Sena and the MNS,” BJP leader Eknath Khadse said a few weeks ago. Now again Raj could play a spoiler for the Sena, especially since Sena and BJP will be fighting separately.

Raj has a considerable base in north Maharashtra especially in the industrial town of Nashik and also did well during the last municipal elections in Pune where he won even more seats than the BJP.

The antiroad-toll agitation that Raj Thackeray took up in Maharashtra, helped him establish a base in many urban pockets such as Aurangabad and Kolhapur.

“We feel that the voters see Raj as part of the Thackeray family. He has the legacy of Balasaheb and that’s very important for us. MNS is able to cut into the votes of many parties but we must admit that the biggest chunk comes from the Shiv Sena traditional vote” said an MNS leader. However there is also a flip side to this situation.

“Now that the state is likely to see a four cornered election, Raj Thackeray’s party will be the fifth player in the game and may not be able to establish itself as a spoiler against the big parties. The Congress and NCP had indirectly encouraged Raj Thackeray in 2009 because they knew that he would be eating into the Sena votes but now Congress would not be doing the same because the alliance is already split”, said a Congress leader.