MNS chief Raj Thackeray likely to announce decision on Lok Sabha Elections next week
The role of Raj Thackeray's MNS in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is not clear as yet. He is expected to make an announcement next week.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray will take part in a number of programmes in Pune, Kolhapur and Konkan starting Friday. Soon after attending these programmes, Raj Thackeray will next week announce the exact role MNS will play in the Lok Sabha elections, sources said.
As the Lok Sabha elections approach, hectic political developments are underway. However, the role of Raj Thackeray's MNS in the General Elections is still not clear. There was a possibility of an announcement to this effect after the meeting between NCP leader Ajit Pawar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. But, no decision was announced even after that meeting and party workers continue to remain confused about their role in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena and the BJP have already announced the alliance. Congress-NCP alliance too is in the final phase of discussions. However, MNS has yet to declare its decision on participating in the Lok Sabha elections.
Finally, BJP-Shiv Sena come together...
Finally, the BJP and the Shiv Sena have decided to fight the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly Elections together. In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP will fight on 25 seats and Shiv Sena will contest on 23 from Maharashtra's total 48 seats. In the Legislative Assembly elections, both the BJP and the Shiv Sena are expected to contest on 144 seats each. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and BJP president Amit Shah on Monday announced the alliance in a joint press conference. The two leaders said that BJP and the Shiv Sena will fight elections together due to various reasons, including Hindutva and terrorism.
Over the past four years, the Shiv Sena had been consistently critising BJP over various Issues. Previously, Uddhav Thackeray had announced that Shiv Sena will fight all future elections on its own. But considering the changing political scenario of the country, the BJP and the Shiv Sena took a stand of reconciliation and finally made the announcement regarding alliance.