MNS sees coalition hopes get boosted after saffron breakup

Mumbai: The break-up of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance has boosted the hopes of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) of its revival by allying with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

MNS leaders Bala Nandgaonkar and Sandeep Deshpande had recently indicated that their party could join hands with the Shiv Sena in the BMC polls. With the Sena-BJP alliance now being broken, this could turn into a reality, feel MNS activists. After Sena and BJP decided to go separate ahead of the last State Assembly polls, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray had held discussions on the possibility of alliance. But, there was no headway due to lack of response from Sena.

However, recent statements from MNS leaders have again stoked a possibility of the two parties coming together. Mr Nandgaonkar has made a statement that he would put his entire political career at stake to bring two estranged brothers together. Mr Deshpande said that “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”, indicating that BJP is the enemy of both parties. “Even if there was no open truce between two parties in the polls, there could be behind-the-curtain efforts to help each other’s candidates,” said a MNS leader on the condition of anonymity.

However, Dadar could prove to be a stumbling block in the Sena and MNS coming together. Both parties are trying hard to ascertain their dominance over the Marathi heartland of Dadar, which is crucial to support their pro-Marathi agenda. But while all corporators from Dadar are from the MNS, the MLA belongs to the Shiv Sena.