The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) not only suffered a big blow but also failed to open its account in the Assembly elections held on November 20 with the MNS chief's charisma failing to create an impact and gain votes.
Political observers believe that the MNS failed to woo the voters due to frequent changes in its stand. Although MNS contested 128 seats by going solo, the party chief went on showering praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also on Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for their leadership qualities.
However, according to political analysts, the voters did not like it as they felt that the MNS had no clear vision for the state.
After MNS' rout, the social media was flooded with posts ridiculing the Raj Thackeray-led party saying the ''engine" of MNS had derailed. Rail Engine is the MNS poll symbol. The MNS had won a record 13 seats in the 2009 elections and one each in the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections.
Interestingly, Raj Thackeray targeted his brother and Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, quite often terming him a traitor.
Further, he attacked NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar for doing caste politics but refrained from being aggressive against the BJP or Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. That further confused the voters.
Raj Thackeray, during the Lok Sabha elections, did not field his nominees but extended support to the MahaYuti.
However, in the 2019 general elections, he fired salvos against the BJP.
The voters did not like his changing stands. His rallies across the state attracted huge crowds, but due to lack of strong party organisation at the grassroots, MNS failed to transfer it into votes.
Raj Thackeray had appealed to the voters to give power in Maharashtra into his hands, but voters did not take it seriously.
He had earlier made a statement that the MNS would be a part of a new government that also did not work in his favour.
Raj Thackeray's move to pitch his son Amit Thackeray from his backyard in Mahim constituency turned out to be a disaster.
Amit Thackeray, who was locked in a triangular fight with Shiv Sena legislator Sada Sarvankar and Shiv Sena-UBT nominee Mahesh Sawant, was defeated as he came poor third.
Shiv Sena's decision not to withdraw its nominee Sada Sarvankar, despite the BJP&rsquo;s insistence, increased Amit Thackeray's problems as he lost due to division of votes, especially of the 'Marathi Manoos'.
Amit's dream of becoming a legislator was, however, shattered.
MNS' sole legislator Raju Patil lost to Shiv Sena nominee Rajesh More from Kalyan Rural, while former minister and MNS nominee Bala Nandgaonkar suffered a loss from Shivadi constituency against Shiv Sena-UBT nominee Ajay Chaudhary.
Further, party nominee Sandeep Deshpande lost to Shiv Sena-UBT nominee Aaditya Thackeray from Worli constituency.
Meanwhile, in his first reaction after defeat, Amit Thackeray claimed his fight was never to gain political power as it was the fight of a common worker who strives for everyone, for the people and for the bright future of Maharashtra.
"Today's result is not the end of my journey; there is a new beginning. For you, for your faith, for the development of Mahim, Dadar, Prabhadevi and all of Maharashtra, I will work 24 hours. That is my word. Thank you very much to the voters who trusted me and voted for me. Your faith will not be wasted," he said.
"I accept the vote of the people of Mahim, Dadar and Prabhadevi. I humbly and respectfully accept the outcome. For many years, we have seen the struggle of people for very basic needs. With the thoughts that emerged from this struggle, we should write a new chapter of development and change... for this purpose only, I entered the electoral fray. Maybe people have something different in mind. This poll result will be a lesson for me that there is still a lot of work to be done. I still need to work hard. I have to prove my achievement by fighting more. I still have to work hard to earn your trust," he further added.
--IANS

Raj Thackeray leader Maharashtra NavNirman Sena (MNS)

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November 23, 2024 | 19:33 IST