Raj Thackeray, chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), on Thursday announced his support to the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Rajya Sabha, Bal Mane.
Raj’s visit to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office earlier this year, led to a strain in relations between the BJP and its alliance partner Sena.
But on Thursday, BJP leaders in a bid to outnumber the Congress candidate Hussain Dalwai in Friday’s Rajya Sabha by-election, sought help from the MNS chief.
A day after visiting Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, Mane visited MNS chief at his residence near Shivaji Park and asked his support.
“I got a call from Sudhir Munguntiwar (BJP state president) and later by Eknath Khadse (Opposition leader in the assembly) asking for help in tomorrow’s by-election,” said Thackeray, after the meeting. “He is the candidate of the Opposition and I have asked my MLAs to vote for him on Friday."
Mane, who expressed his confidence in winning the Rajya Sabha election, said that being a candidate for the Opposition and asking for Raj's help was not uncommon.
“Our party leadership had called Raj Thackeray over the election and the MNS chief has promised us support. There is nothing wrong in asking for the Opposition party’s help,” he said, bypassing the question when asked whether the Shiv Sena has any objections to it.
Thackeray said he was not interested in numbers game.
“It was a personal request, and hence I agreed. Nothing else,” he said.
Though the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine enjoys the necessary numbers to win the Rajya Sabha election, the Opposition is banking on Independents who are yet to decide their stand.
“We are hopeful and tomorrow we might bring out something unusual,” said Mane.
