Says MNS voted for the ruling alliance in order to get its MLAs’ suspension revoked, something the Shiv Sena has been alleging for a year.
In a first admission of its kind, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray said that his party had gotten into some sort of agreement with the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), an allegation being leveled by his bete noir Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray since a year now, on Saturday. Raj said that his party MLAs voted for Congress-NCP candidates in the biennial election of the state legislative council held on June 10 to get the suspension of four MNS MLAs revoked.
“We took whatever step needed to get the suspension of our four MLAs revoked. It is important for me to send my four suspended MLAs back into the assembly as they were elected by lakhs of voters. It would be injustice with their constituencies if they remain out of the House,” Raj said.
The MNS MLAs - Shishir Shinde, Ram Kadam, Vasant Gite and Ramesh Wanjale - were suspended in November last year for attacking Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi in the Assembly for taking oath in Hindi.
Raj’s revelation came after the Sena alleged that the MNS MLAs were involved in horse-trading. Sena chief Bal Thackeray dubbed MNS as Dhanase, a pun on its acronym Manase. Thackeray also suspected a fixing in the MNS-SP fighting episode. Apart from that, Maharashtrian netizens also had criticised Raj for joining hands with Congress. Interestingly, while the Congress had denied the reports that MNS voted for them, NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Jayant Patil confessed that their party candidates won with the help of MNS.
“All the 13 votes of ‘Dhanase’ were given to fourth candidate of Congress Vijay Sawant in lieu of money, creating problem for Sena, which is fighting for the cause of Marathi people,” Thackeray said in an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamna.
Raj rubbished Sena’s allegation and questioned Sena’s stand to support NCP in the Pune Municipal Corporation elections. “Did Sena get money to support the NCP in Pune despite fighting the elections with their ally BJP? Why is the Sena silent over MNS’ support to them in the municipal council polls in Ambernath?”
He questioned Sena’s support to Congress leader Murli Deora, businessman Rajkumar Dhoot and journalist Pritish Nandy in the Rajya Sabha polls and Lalchand Rathod in council elections in the past. He criticised Sena for sending journalist Bharatkumar Raut to RS and party spokesperson Neelam Gorhe to the state council, saying Sena should field people who are loyal to the party.
Raj also asked Sena to mind their own business. “No one is my friend or enemy in politics. I am not bound to anyone and will do things for the good of my party and the Marathi people. It is the Sena’s old habit of blaming others for their defeat. After the assembly poll defeat last year, Sena blamed the Marathi manoos, and now they are blaming my party. They never accept their mistakes. Why did they field second candidates in council polls when they did not have sufficient votes?” he said.
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