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‘People want us to solve problems, but ignore while voting’: MNS chief Raj Thackeray
Raj Thackeray said he is still mulling over the results of the state assembly election and promised to give a broader direction to the party.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in his New Year message on Wednesday said the people of Maharashtra look to his party to solve their problems, but ignore voting for them in the election.
The MNS chief said that despite changes in Mumbai over 25 years, the Marathi people still feel “insecure” about the lack of job opportunities. “Young people do not get work, but at the same time, job opportunities are available to those coming from outside the state,” Thackrey alleged.
“The unemployed do not have a caste, but they are made to feel that caste, and they incite conflicts between castes. The lives of all workers, from farmers to the poor, are being ruined by inflation. And at the time of this and every other problem, people remember the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, but forget the party at the time of voting,” he added in a post on X.
Thackrey said he is still mulling over the results of the state assembly election and promised to give a broader direction to the party. The party's tag of being a “regional party” and its railway engine symbol is under stress after its failure to win a single constituency in the recent elections.
The MNS fielded 125 candidates in the recent state election, but failed to open its account with a 1.55% vote share. Thackeray’s son Amit’s poll debut was disappointing, as he finished third in the Mahim assembly constituency. Thackeray had described the results as “unbelievable”.
Also read | Course correction meeting: MNS members want party to join Mahayuti
In the 2009 assembly polls, MNS won 13 seats, while in 2014 and 2019, the party could win only one seat each.
Political analyst, Mrinalini Naniwadekar told HT, “According to ECI rules, any party should garner at least eight per cent votes if it has zero to one seat, six per cent votes if it has two seats and three per cent votes if it has three seats, to retain its party status and symbol”.
