Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday hinted that his party may contest the state Assembly elections alone.
Thackeray, at an event in Mumbai, urged party workers not to think about whether the outfit would ally with any party and how many seats it may be allotted. “We will fight 225 to 250 seats in the upcoming Assembly polls,” he said. “At any cost, I want to get my party worker to sit in power.”
Elections for 288-seat Assembly are expected to take place in the state later this year.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had extended unconditional support to the state’s ruling Mahayuti alliance.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party group.
However, on Thursday Thackeray criticised the state government for failing to address voters’ concerns.
“The Maharashtra government lacks the funds to repair potholes,” he said on Thursday. “How will they find the money to give the dear sister Rs 1,500 a month?”
Thackeray was referring to the state’s Ladki Bahin scheme, under which underprivileged women will be given a stipend of Rs 1,500 per month.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief also took a jibe at factions that have emerged in the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party.
“One cannot make out which MLA is in which party,” Thackeray said. “In the upcoming polls, an unprecedent conflict will emerge between these factions.”
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena won 13 seats in the first Assembly election that it contested in 2009. However, it could win only one seat each in the 2014 and 2019 state elections.
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