Manohar Joshi blows Sena’s poll bugle in Pune

“Shiv Sena has taken a new turn and our power has risen. If the need arises, we can fight elections on our own. The party is working in that direction,” said senior party leader Manohar Joshi. He was speaking to mediapersons on Saturday.

Joshi was in Pune to kick-start the Sena’s civic election campaign. He also addressed a public meeting in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area.

Joshi said, “We are changing in many ways for the betterment of people. We and the Bharatiya Janata Party are strong enough to contest elections on our own. But this certainly doesn’t mean that we are moving away from each other. This will never happen.”

Mocking at the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in the state, he said, “Both the parties are busy fighting their own battles and overlooking people’s problems. Citizens are wary of them. The fallout of their fight has resulted in the Republican Party of India (RPI) joining us wholeheartedly.”

He said, “The Congress that has ruled the country since 1947 is yet to provide clean drinking water to all. Those who are saying that the SS-BJP alliance has lost their glory in Pune are showing their ignorance. We have won the Khadakwasla bypoll.”

Joshi released a booklet detailing the Sena’s role in the coming civic election and said that the soon-to-be-released party manifesto will address the issues facing Puneites. 

Downplaying the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), he said, “The MNS can never be an option for us.”