Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is going through a tough time. Rebuilding a party’s tarnished image after the election debacles is rather difficult. Raj Thackeray was doing his bit to reunite the party and rekindle the old spirits that saw the party as a real challenge for Shiv Sena all these years. But somehow lost out the ground and after BJP winning the prestigious Bhandup seat, Sena looked for strengthening the party as BJP was surging ahead in BMC. Six of MNS corporators crossed the floor in a horse trading MNS lost out and the sole member may also be tempted to go to Sena or BJP in the days to come. After series of election results, MNS chief was planning to revive the party before the 2019 Lok Sabha and State elections to gain some upper hand. The party’s efforts to reduce toll charges had a great impact and that was the reason for winning 7 seats at the first instance. Now, the party is going through a testing time and Shiv Sena took advantage to extend its lead over BJP in BMC thanks to the 6 MNS corporators crossing the floor. It is matter of time that MNS may disintegrate and join with the parent unit or survive with the thin strength in the corporation. Rebuilding is a difficult task and Raj Thackeray failed in his attempt to keep the unit together for tougher tests ahead.
M.R. Jayanthi
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
