More bad news for Raj Thackeray: MNS to lose regional party status after pathetic showing

Mumbai: In yet another setback after the debacle in the assembly election, the Raj Thackeray led MNS is set to lose its ‘state recognized party status’ due to its dismal performance in the assembly election.

The party won just one seat out of 288 constituencies in Maharashtra and got just 3.1 percent vote share in the state as per the results declared by the Election Commission.

As per the rules, a political party shall be entitled to be recognized as a ‘State’ party, if it secures at least six percent of the valid votes polled in the State at a general election, either to the Lok Sabha or to the Legislative Assembly of the State and in addition, if the party has at least two seats in the Legislative Assembly. A party could also be recognized as a state party if it has sent MLAs to legislative assembly from at lease three percent of total number of legislative constituencies in state (this works out to around 9 MLAs).

Since the MNS does not fulfill the criteria to retain the ‘State recognized party’ status, it will now only be known as a ‘registered party’ in the state. Officials from the Election commission hinted that the MNS may also lose its symbol - the train engine - as well.

“If we are not meeting up the criteria, then we are going to lose the ‘state’ party status. But, we will wait for the Election Commission’s notice and will respond accordingly,” said Shirish Sawant, MNS general secretary, who is in-charge of the election affairs of party, speaking to Firstpost.

“We may lose the symbol but can ask for the symbol as a registered party in the state,” Sawant added.

The latest setback could may well seal the end of Raj Thackeray, say political observers.

To add insult to injury, the Shiv Sena regained its strongholds of Mahim and Sewree by defeating MNS candidates that had won from these constituencies in 2009. In a big surprise, the Shiv Sena also defeated NCP’s Sachin Ahir, gaining ground in Worli.

In winning these three seats the Sena regained control over its bastions, the Marathi heartlands, and sealed the Marathi Manoos debate in its favour.

In Mahim, the Sena’s Sada Sarvankar defeated the MNS’s sitting legislator Nitin Sardesai by over 5000 votes and in Sewree, Sena candidate Ajay Chaudhari defeated senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar by over 41,000 votes.

“This is our tribute to Balasaheb Thackeray. The Shiv Sena has reclaimed its fort. Dadar always was and will always remain with the Sena,” said Sada Sarvankar after his victory. In 2009, the late Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray had expressed displeasure over loosing the Mahim seat to MNS.

The inconsistencies in Raj Thackeray’s stands such as extending support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Lok Sabha election and then targeting him during assembly polls, declaring that he would contest assembly elections and then deciding against it, sent confusing signals across the file and rank in the party, say MNS leaders.

“Also, people were not convinced with our much publicised ‘blue print’ for Maharashtra’s development, which was released few days before the assembly poll campaigning began,” said a MNS leader.

The leader added that the election results are also indication that the Marathi votes are no longer with the MNS. “Our defeat in Mahim, Sewree and Worli seats clearly indicated that the Marathi manoos has stood behind the Shiv Sena and not us. It seems that the Marathi manoos feels that voting for MNS helps the Congress party and is not good for them,” he explained.

Taking a lesson from the 2009 assembly elections, the Shiv Sena had been campaigning that voting for MNS means voting for the Congress. It 2009, the MNS had helped the Congress-NCP alliance win a majority of the seats in Mumbai.

“Also, in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai, we just cannot bank on Marathi manoos card as it has a sizable Gujarati and North Indian population,” said another party leader pointing out that the Modi factor had a major impact in Mumbai.

MNS leaders strongly feel that party chief Raj Thackeray should focus on building a strong organisation in urban areas. “We feel that is the only way to come out of this situation. We need to analyse the mandate, which we accept. We will try to come out of the situation,” said Bala Nandgaokar, MNS’s former group leader in the state assembly.

Political analysts say the MNS received the drubbing Thackeray’s style of functioning. “He has never been a serious politician. He played a very marginal role in leading the party to victory even when he was in the Shiv Sena. While Raj carries the style of his uncle Balasaheb Thackeray, he has not been able to build the organisation like his uncle which is the Sena’s strength,” said political analyst Prakash Bal.

Bal added that Thackeray has not been able to explain what rejuvenation he intends to bring to the state. “Also, apart from toll agitation, he has not taken up any issue or given any programme to party activists. The party is completely directionless with no vision in sight,” he explained.