As his party turned seven on Saturday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray vowed to lead his party to power in Maharashtra on his own strength, notwithstanding scepticism expressed in certain quarters about its ability to reach out to people across the State.
Speaking at a function organised to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the MNS, Raj dismissed yet again media reports hinting at the possibility of the MNS aligning with the Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI(A) combine for the 2014 polls and said: “I made my stand (of going it alone in the 2014 polls) clear at my public rally in Kolhapur. I repeat myself now: I will lead the MNS to power in Maharashtra and that too on its own strength”.
“Political pundits may not agree with me on this count, but the fact remains that all those who had in the beginning expressed serious doubts about the growth of my party, are dumbfounded today by the huge support I am receiving from people from across the State. Even these political pundits will soon come around to accept my prediction that the MNS will come to power in Maharashtra on its own strength,” Raj said.
Dwelling upon the growth of the MNS during the past seven years, Raj said: “The MNS is the first party that spread its wings across the State on the first day of its formation. We are currently in the process of building and giving a formal shape to the party in each and every district. You can get to see the reflection of the transformed party in the 2014 lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the State”.
Raj went on to add that all those skeptics who had dismissed his party as being the one confined to Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Nashik were now coming to realise its potential.
Giving credit to the MNS workers and office-bearers for the marked growth the party had seen during the last seven years, Raj said the visit of industrialist Ratan Tata to his residence “Krishna Kunj” on Friday should been seen in this context.
“Tata’s visit to my home is indeed a big honour for MNS workers. Coming as it did on the eve of seventh anniversary of the MNS, Tata’s visit to my residence is a good omen,” he said.
Exhorting party workers not to be complacent in their approach towards the forthcoming elections, Raj read out from an official letter which had purportedly given details of the manner in which the names of thousands of voters had been deleted jointly by the District Collector and Chief Election Officer in various parts of Mumbai and surrounding areas.
Maintaining that 85 per cent of the voters whose names have been deleted were Maharahtrians, Raj alleged that he saw a conspiracy involving the ruling Congress and NCP behind such a large-scale deletion of local voters from the electoral rolls.