Raj Thackeray won't contest the assembly elections scheduled for October. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief made this announcement at a rally in Nagpur on Sunday. The climbdown comes nearly two months after he had declared that he would take the poll plunge to boost the morale of his partymen.
"I am still not sure whether I will contest the upcoming state battle. Thackeray family never took part in elections so fighting the polls is not in our blood. Besides, I have not nurtured any particular constituency where I can safely field myself. We never treated one area as our own constituency. Entire Maharashtra is our constituency," said Thackeray.
Sources, however, said that while Thackeray was keen to contest from Dadar-Matunga and Nasik constituencies, the ground report was not in his favour. "People are not happy with MNS and its working style. In Lok Sabha, all MNS candidates lost their deposits. If Raj Thackeray suffers defeat in state polls, it will be the end of his political career. This is a face-saving exercise," said a source close to Thackeray.
The MNS chief also made it clear that the party won't ask assembly ticket aspirants to take examinations this time. "It was a good idea but the participants became a laughing stock for people and their family members, especially those who failed," said Thackeray.
On statehood for Vidarbha, Thackeray said he was against dividing the state. "There should be united Maharashtra." The party intends to field about 45 candidates in Vidarbha, he said.
Thackeray supported chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's decision to skip Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Metro bhoomipujan function in Nagpur. He said if a CM is going to be insulted in an event, there is point attending the programme. Thackeray said that his blueprint for Maharashtra will be ready in next ten days.
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