But party workers say won’t back ex-Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam if he is given ticket
MNS party leaders along with Piyush Goyal, the BJP-Mahayuti Lok Sabha candidate of Mumbai North
Several MNS leaders have started campaigning for Mahayuti and NDA candidates in Maharashtra. Most recently, MNS leader Avinash Abhyankar and MNS Leader from western suburbs Nayan Kadam met with Mahayuti and BJP candidate Piyush Goyal, from the Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency.
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Also, a video surfaced on social media showing MNS Leader Avinash Jadhav campaigning for BJP’s Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha candidate and Mahayuti , Narayan Rane.
Incidentally, the MNS ran campaigns against PM Narendra Modi and the BJP in 2019. However, party chief Raj Thackeray recently said that PM Modi has his full backing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The MNS decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections this time as well, and Thackeray, during his annual Gudi Padwa rally, appealed to party workers to start preparations for the state assembly elections which are expected this year.
Meanwhile, there have been discussions in political circles about there being unrest among MNS party workers after Thackeray extended support to Mahayuti and NDA. An MNS office bearer from the western suburbs said, “We will follow the orders of our leader and even take part in campaigning of Mahayuti And NDA candidates, provided we are involved in the planning of strategies for the several Lok Sabha seats.”
MNS leader Manish Dhuri from Andheri West said, “As per the instructions of our leader Raj-saheb, we will support and take part in the campaigning of the official candidate of BJP-Mahayuti . In Mumbai North West, we are awaiting the official candidate but if former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam is given a ticket by Mahayuti, then we will not work as we are opposed to his candidature.”
Another MNS office bearer from Goregaon East told mid-day that the BJP-Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction does not want to involve MNS in ward campaigning where north Indian votes can play a crucial role.
“I was told by my friends in BJP that they want our support to get Marathi votes which are hardcore voters of Raj-saheb and those Marathi voters who don’t want to vote for Uddhav Thackeray. The BJP is not eager to involve us in campaigning at the ward level where there are north Indian voters because they fear our involvement might boomerang, as many north Indian voters in Mumbai have not forgotten the MNS agitation against north Indians. If you see, BJP uses Raj-sahebs picture on their banner but the Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction does not use his pictures,” said an MNS party worker.
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