English
Nashik, Feb 16: For a decade old Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Nashik Municipal Corporation elections this year will play a crucial role in deciding the future of Raj Thackeray-led party. It was in the Nashik Municipal Corporation elections that the party tasted its first success in 2012 Municipal polls. But the political narrative in Maharashtra including Nashik has taken a new turn post Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in 2014 General and Assembly elections. Whether MNS enjoys any space in the new political space will be known on February 23 when counting of votes will take place.
MNS won its first elections when it bagged 40 out of 122 seats in Nashik Municipal Corporation elections in 2012 and came to power. The MNS had managed to show impressive performance in Nashik after small victory of 13 seats in 2009 Maharashtra Assembly polls. This was the time when Raj Thackeray began to see himself as a kingmaker, if not as a king.
Thackeray formed his own Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in 2006 a year after publicly declaring that he and Shiv Sena chief and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray have different styles of functioning and it was frustrating working with Uddhav. Since then Raj Thackeray has been struggling to spread his party across the Maharashtra. Except Nashik, the MNS has failed to make inroads in strongholds of older parties like Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP. The back-to-back debacles in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls where MNS failed miserably, has made upcoming Nashik Municipal Corporation elections 2017 a battle for survival for Raj Thackeray.
Despite having the charisma and oratory of his uncle and late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, neither Raj Thackeray nor the MNS is considered a force to reckon with in Maharashtra. If we keep Pune and Nashik municipal corporation elections aside, MNS failed to make impact in any other major electoral battle. Yes, the MNS was a newly formed party and it’s tough establish cadre base on state level. But it’s been ten years now. The problem with Raj Thackeray is that he turns ignorant when it comes to ground reality.
Raj Thackeray never admitted that his MNS is in bad shape but that is the root cause of consistent failure of the outfit. The reality is Raj Thackeray seems to have lost ground in Nashik, once his de facto headquarters. The reality is Raj Thackeray has done nothing big in Nashik that he can showcase in this election. Contrary to his promise, Raj hardly visited Nashik and never paid heed towards the section of MNS workers who eventually deserted him. His pet project, the prestigious 13-km long Goda Park, was washed away during flood in Godavari.
Yes, the MNS took efforts to beautify the Nashik city, but it is not enough to win corporation elections. Forget about development, even if Raj visited the city regularly, he could have won the game of perception. The Narendra Modi wave swept away many leaders in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and Raj was no exception. MNS contested 2014 Lok Sabha elections and all its candidates lost deposits. This was the beginning of the fall of his party. Few months later, Maharashtra Assembly elections took place and Raj’s poor performance continued.
Despite the back-to-back defeats, Raj Thackeray hasn’t learnt anything. When he was expected to become more active in politics and accessible for his own party leaders, Raj went into a shell. His absence from the poll campaign during corporation elections across Maharashtra shows he has conceded defeat at least in Mumbai. The Nashik Municipal Corporation elections will be his last test.
Raj Thackeray should stop taking people for granted who flock to his rallies in large numbers. He is a remarkable orator and people will continue to gather in lakhs for his rallies. But if he fails to turn this into votes, his MNS will be wiped out from Maharashtra.
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