Raj Thackeray seems disinterested in fighting Lok Sabha polls

MUMBAI: A couple of days after BJP leader Nitin Gadkari met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray in a hush-hush meeting at a fivestar hotel in Mumbai to discuss poll equations, there’s an uneasy calm in the MNS camp.

On Monday, Gadkari had requested Thackeray not to field candidates against the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance so as not to divide the anti Congress-NCP votes. Thackeray, however, has maintained a studied silence on the issue, and his party workers aren’t sure whether to hit the campaign trail or not.

More importantly, the MNS has not even declared its list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, triggering further speculation as to whether Thackeray is really interested in fighting the polls this time around.

Those in the MNS said that Thackeray is still not being able to make up his mind on whether to contest the elections or not. This is mainly because of two reasons: first, he had been approached by the BJP almost six months back asking him not to field candidates for the forthcoming polls. He was then offered a deal where he was promised a seat adjustment: the deal involved the MNS being given one LS seat and also a seat-sharing formula for the assembly elections that would follow a few months after the LS polls.

As part of the deal, he was asked not to make any anti-migrant statement or launch any kind of criticism against BJP’s ally, the Shiv Sena, so as to facilitate Thackeray’s integration into the alliance in a smooth way.

While he, by and large, followed the agreement, the deal fell through primarily because an MNS leader said that Thackeray wanted the seat-sharing for the assembly polls to be decided before the Lok Sabha polls.

The Sena, on the contrary, wanted to start talks for the assembly seat adjustment only after the Lok Sabha results were out. The MNS leader added that this was the reason why Thackeray, ‘frustrated’ over being let down by the BJP, began targeting the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, which probably explains Gadkari’s recent meeting with him.

This might also come as a face-saver for him, for Thackeray himself isn’t keen that his party contests the LS polls this time around.