MNS to hold rally on Gudi Padwa

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is set to observe its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, party chief Raj Thackeray has decided to celebrate Gudi Padwa as the party’s annual rally day to counter Shiv Sena’s annual Dussehra rally.

According to a senior MNS leader, Mr Thackeray has planned to revive the party and motivate party workers in order to bring them out of their defeated mentality. “He is planning to organise a gathering that will be held yearly on the day of Gudi Padwa in April. Since the Marathi New Year begins from Padwa and it is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm by the Marathi people,” said the leader, on the condition of anonymity. “The gathering will be organised along the lines of Dussehra rally, held by its arch rival Shiv Sena every year,” he added.

“We have booked the Shivaji Park ground for April 8 to hold the rally,” the leader said. “We believe that the annual rally will work as a catalyst inspire and mobilise the workers,” the MNS leader said.

Also, to mark the party’s foundation day on March 9, Mr Thackeray has apparently asked the party officials to celebrate the milestone in traditional way. He has asked the party workers to put up six feet high lanterns wrapped in party colours, distribute sweets to school children and play shehnai for the whole day at the party offices on Wednesday.

“Every zonal chief has been asked to put six lanterns. The party will provide half of them and the remaining will be arranged locally. Saheb (Mr Raj) has asked us to write social messages on these lanterns,” a zonal chief from eastern suburbs said on the condition of anonymity.

Mr Thackeray will be addressing the party officials at a meeting at Matunga on Tuesday to explain to them his plans of reviving the party. However, according to another senior MNS leader, the meeting would do little to boost the morale of the party workers.

“I think these measures are not sufficient because the party is lacking credibility at this moment. The workers can’t be motivated unless there is one-on-one dialogue with the top leadership,” the leader said, requesting anonymity.

Immediately after its formation the MNS had tasted remarkable electoral success in the 2009 Assembly elections by having 13 MLAs in the legislative Assembly. However, in October 2014 Assembly elections the MNS managed to get just one MLA in the Assembly. Also, in 2015, the party had cut a sorry figure in the Kalyan-Dombivali municipal corporation having failed to wrest power from the Sena.