In view of his growing proximity with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray’s speech at the annual Gudhi Padva rally of MNS at Shivaji Park will be heard with close attention, on Tuesday.

Recently, Thackeray was invited to meet BJP leader Amit Shah in New Delhi amid speculations that MNS would be drafted as an ally ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. It was said the two have struck a deal in which the MNS was to get a share in Lok Sabha seats and if that was not possible, it would get a Rajya Sabha or legislative council seat. Thackeray hasn’t spoken about anything yet, except for confirming the BJP’s invite. He had promised to make his stand public at the Gudhi Padva rally, for which arrangements were near complete at the iconic venue. 

‘He endorsed Modi in 2014’

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who was instrumental in bringing the MNS on board for talks, expected the party to be with the NDA. “We definitely had talks with MNS in recent times. We grew closer, especially after MNS made Hindutva its core agenda. Raj Thackeray was the first to endorse Narendra Modi for the PM’s post way back in 2014. He had taken a public stand that Modji ji be made the PM,” he told reporters in Chandrapur. Fadnavis added, “It is his party and he [Raj] has to decide [on participation in the NDA, which is also known as Mahayuti in Maharashtra]. But it is my personal expectation that he should support Modi ji.”

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