Uddhav Thackeray snubs MNS, says Shiv Sena will go solo

Mumbai: Even as the Raj Thackeray-led MNS knocked at the doors of Shiv Sena for a tie-up in the upcoming civic polls, Uddhav Thackeray said he has not received any alliance proposal from anyone and reiterated that his party would fight the elections all alone.

“We have entered the electoral battlefield with full resolve. No proposal for alliance has come to us from anyone. We will not have any alliance with anyone. We will contest on our own strength,” the Sena president said, putting to rest the speculations about joining of hands of the estranged cousins.

Responding to Uddhav’s statement, MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said, “I had personally gone to ‘Matoshree’ (Uddhav’s residence) and offered proposal for alliance in the interest of Mumbai. But if Uddhav Thackeray says that no proposal was given, then I am a liar.”

Mr Nandgaonkar met the MNS president at ‘Krishna Kunj’, the latter’s residence in Dadar.

Meanwhile, an MNS source said that in the proposal, the party had asked Shiv Sena to give the party the seats that it currently holds in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

MNS currently has 28 corporators in the Sena-BJP ruled BMC. The MNS, which had bagged 111 seats in urban civic bodies in 2012, is now finding itself alone.

According to political observers, MNS is suffering from some sort of “trust deficit” and “credibility crisis”, a perception its leaders and functionaries refuse to share.

Five years ago, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, riding on Raj’s charisma and “anti-north Indian immigrant” agenda, had bagged 28 seats in Mumbai corporation, seven in Thane, 29 in Pune, four in Pimpri-Chinchwad, two in Nagpur and one in Akola.

On January 26, Uddhav had announced that his party would contest the upcoming civic polls in the state all alone, putting to rest speculations about forging of ties with its ally BJP for upcoming civic polls.