Mumbai,
\nA senior Congress leader has said that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) must clarify its ideology and stand on various issues before it makes any move to join an \u201canti-BJP\u201d front.<\/p>\n
Last Sunday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had called for a \u201cModi-mukt Bharat\u201d by 2019, setting off speculation about his political moves ahead of the next general elections and possibility of joining the Congress-led opposition bloc.<\/p>\n
The regional outfit, whose foundation is rooted in the \u2018sons-of-the-soil\u2019 agenda, has said that a party\u2019s stand needs to change as per the prevailing political situation.<\/p>\n
Manikrao Thakre, a former state Congress chief, said ever since Raj Thackeray formed his own party 12 years ago after leaving the Shiv Sena, there had been no consistency in his political stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will have to clarify whether he espouses a national perspective or wants to stick to the regional agenda and anti-migrant stance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though he is critical of the BJP and the Shiv Sena, his ideology is no different from the two saffron partners,\u201d said Thakre, who is now Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council.<\/p>\n
Any move to get a place in the \u201cCongress-led anti-BJP front\u201d could materialise only if he clarified his ideology, he said.<\/p>\n
On speculation about NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Raj Thackeray coming closer, Thakre avoided a direct reply saying only the Maratha strongman could speak on the issue.<\/p>\n
He said there is a need for all Republican Party factions to come together.<\/p>\n
Prakash Ambedkar, Jogendra Kawade, Rajendra Gavai and Ramdas Athawale (a BJP ally), who head different factions of the Dalit party, should not go separate ways, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should come together in the interest of the nation to oppose the BJP\u2019s ideology,\u201d Thakre said.<\/p>\n
MNS spokesman Vageesh Saraswat said there could be no consistency in a political party\u2019s stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt (a party) needs to change and adapt to changes as per the prevailing political situation. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are the recent examples,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Naidu recently walked out of the NDA, while Kumar joined the BJP-led coalition last year after quitting the RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar.<\/p>\n
A source in the MNS said Raj Thackeray would be comfortable being part of a \u201cnon-BJP and non-Congress front\u201d of regional parties led by Pawar.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo counter (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, there is no other acceptable face than Pawar. If there is anyone else, that name can be discussed,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n
In 2014, Raj Thackeray supported Modi\u2019s candidature for the PM\u2019s post. He even stayed in Gujarat for 10 days as Modi\u2019s guest. Now, he wants Pawar to lead an \u201canti-Modi front\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
The Congress would not join any third front as it is a national party and would instead want all non-BJP parties to accept Rahul Gandhi\u2019s leadership, the MNS source said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not yet known if all non-BJP parties will accept Rahul Gandhi\u2019s leadership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said not much should be read into Raj Thackeray\u2019s recent meeting with Pawar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a personal meeting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Malik, however, admitted there is no clarity on Raj Thackeray\u2019s ideology and stand on various issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mumbai, A senior Congress leader has said that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) must clarify its ideology and stand on various issues before it makes any move to join an \u201canti-BJP\u201d front. Last Sunday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had called for a \u201cModi-mukt Bharat\u201d by 2019, setting off speculation about his political moves ahead of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[312,315],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25519,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25517\/revisions\/25519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}