Mumbai: Much to the delight of his supporters, Raj Thackeray Monday announced that his party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), will contest the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls.
“We will contest the Assembly elections and also win. The seats and candidates will be announced in the next couple of days,” Mr Thackeray said while addressing a MNS rally at MIG club, Bandra. His announcement was met with great enthusiasm by party supporters.
However, there is no certainty as to how many seats the MNS will contest in the Assembly polls.
According to sources, the party may contest 125 seats in Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Dombivali, Nashik, Pune and Marathwada, where it has a sizeable number of supporters.
Mr Thackeray announced that he will address his first election rally on October 5. He said he would also answer questions regarding his long-standing silence after the Lok Sabha polls.
However, there is no clarity whether the party will enter into any tie-ups with other parties or alliances, although party leaders claim that they will win sufficient numbers to emerge as “king makers” in case the two main alliances fail to get a majority.
The MNS did not contest the Lok Sabha polls. However, Mr Thackeray campaigned actively against the BJP.
Reportedly, he was also not keen on contesting the Assembly polls and had even called for a boycott of the same unless the Election Commission of India agreed to conduct the elections with ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
