Maharashtra civic polls' outcome shows money power has won: MNS chief

Mumbai: Days after his party suffered a drubbing in the BMC polls, the MNS chief Raj Thackeray today launched a veiled attack on the BJP saying the "money power" and not development has won recent civic polls.

Raj also announced that henceforth his party would use "all possible ways" that are being adopted by other political parties to win the elections in future.

MNS was reduced to margins in the BMC polls in Mumbai with its tally plummeting to all-time low at 7, down from 28 seats in 2012. The party also fared poorly in the Nashik Municipal Corporation, the only civic body where it was in power.

Sporting a goatee during his address to party workers on the 11th foundation year, Raj said, "This the last defeat of the party. Henceforth, I am going to use all possible ways
which are used by other political parties to contest and win the elections.

"I relied more on my work and developmental projects but people have rejected it. The results of (recent) polls show the money power has won and development has lost."
BJP posted a spectacular performance in the last month's elections to 10 municipal corporations and 25 zilla parishads.

While it improved its tally to 82, just two less than the Shiv Sena in the 227-member Mumbai civic body, the ruling party has also won eight out of ten municipal corporations
besides making inroads in rural areas.

Commenting on the controversy surrounding the BJP-backed Independent MLC Prashant Paricharak over his comments on wives of soldiers, the MNS chief said, "I think he should be slapped with a footwear. It is highly insulting to jawans and their families." Incidentally, the Maharashtra Legislative Council today suspended Paricharak from the House for one-and-a-half years.