MNS declares war on Sena, releases first list of Lok Sabha nominees

Mumbai: In a shrewd political move aimed  at queering the pitch for its arch rival Shiv Sena, MNS on Sunday declared its support for Narendra Modi in his prime  ministerial bid while fielding its candidates for Lok Sabha  polls mainly from those constituencies which are contested by  Sena, virtually sparing BJP.   Addressing his party workers on the eighth foundation day  of MNS here, party chief Raj Thackeray said Modi should become  the Prime Minister.   

"We will contest the Lok Sabha elections. I will show  my party's strength during the elections. We will support  Narendra Modi for the PM's post. Modi should become the Prime  Minister of the country," Raj said at the function held at  Shanmukhananda Hall.   

The first list of seven candidates consists of filmmaker  Mahesh Manjarekar who will make his electoral debut from  Mumbai North West seat, currently represented by Congress MP  Gurudas Kamat. Shiv Sena has announced nomination of party  veteran Gajanan Kirtikar from this seat whereas AAP has  fielded Mayank Gandhi.   

Raj's declaration to contest Lok Sabha polls came days  after former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari appealed to him in a  private conclave here to not field candidates in a bid to  avoid consolidation of votes in favour of Congress.   Gadkari's overture had ruffled feathers of Shiv Sena,  prompting party president Uddhav Thackeray to say that forging  alliance with new parties is a closed chapter.   

Raj's close confidant and party MLA Bala Nandgaonkar  will take on Arvind Sawant of Shiv Sena and Milind Deora of  Congress in Mumbai South, where AAP's Meera Sanyal is also in  the fray.   MNS' Aditya Shirodkar will contest from Sena  stronghold of Mumbai South Central against Rahul Shewale who  replaced Sena veteran Manohar Joshi to bag the ticket this  time.   

BJP has announced the candidature of Kirit Somaya from  Mumbai North East seat, where AAP has fielded Medha Patkar.  The party may field either Mohit Kambhoj or city unit  president Ashish Shelar in Mumbai North seat against sitting  Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam.

Interestingly, MNS' high-decibel electoral debut in  2009 on the son-of-the-soil issue had caused a widespread  damage to Shiv Sena and BJP combine which ceded its ground in  Mumbai to Congress-NCP.   When contacted, BJP leader Vinod Tawde gave a cautious  reaction to Raj's move.   "Mahayuti is strong. Attempts may be made by some  quarters to create confusion among our constituents. Party  workers must ensure that such attempts are not succeed... If  common voter is confused it may result in division of votes  yet again," he told PTI.   

Other MNS candidates whose names were announced today  are Raju Patil (Kalyan-Dombivli), Ashok Khandebharad (Shirur),  Dr Pradeep Pawar (Nashik) and Deepak Paigude from Pune.   While Patil will take on Shrikant Shinde of Shiv Sena  in Kalyan seat currently represented by Sena renegade Anand  Paranjape, Khandebharad will contest against sitting Sena MP  Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil from Shirur and Pawar against NCP  stalwart Chhagan Bhujbal in Nashik.   

Shiv Sena has fielded Hemant Godse from Nashik seat.   Meanwhile, Raj also said he would soon inform about  his first public rally, where he would reply to all criticism  he faced in the last few days, apparently over his meeting  with Gadkari.  

The MNS will also announce second list of its  candidates soon.   In 2009 elections, MNS fielded candidates in 11 Lok  Sabha seats in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Pune and Aurangabad.  Though it drew blank, the party finished second in some of  these seats and polled over one lakh votes in each of them.