Raj admits MNS’s poor show, vows to fight for Marathi manoos

A day after the results of the BMS elections were declared, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray acknowledged the party’s below-par performance and vowed to continue his fight for the Marathi manoos.

Raj Thackeray described the BMC elections as a fight between “Shiv Shakti and money power”, while urging party workers not to be discouraged by the setback, in a post on X.

The MNS chief had joined hands with his cousin Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray after 20 years ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, and the duo projected themselves as protectors of the Marathi “asmita” (pride) to retain their hold over the cash-rich civic body.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, while MNS managed to bag only six seats in the 227-member civic body, which had been the Thackeray family bastion for nearly three decades.

In his post, Raj Thackeray lauded workers of both the MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT), saying the battle had not been an easy one.

The fight was between “Shiv Shakti and the power of money”. But still the party workers put up a good fight, he wrote.