Leaders on regional tours,MNS targets rural areas

MNS group leader in Assembly Bala Nandgaonkar was in Aurangabad for days before the session began last month. The incident of cops beating up MNS MLA from Kannad (Aurangabad district) Harshvardhan Jadhav was still live in the minds of local residents and the MNS leaders had taken it up during the budget session,uniting the Opposition on the issue and getting the policemen involved suspended. At present,a delegation of leaders is in Konkan region and touring Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. The women’s wing of the party had last month taken out a rally in Sindhudurg against increasing crime against women.

“In a planned manner,we are touring regions of the state to analyse our growth and reach over the past two years since the elections. We are checking what the local situation is and what steps need to be taken to strengthen the party throughout the state,” said MNS general secretary Anil Shidore. Leaders will submit a detailed report of the party’s growth in the state after these tours.

As many as 10 of its 12 candidates had secured over one lakh votes each in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Later in the Assembly election,13 MNS candidates were elected from Mumbai,Thane,Nashik and Aurangabad. The party had contested 143 seats in the Assembly election,of which 72 candidates managed to come among the top three in their constituencies. As many as 17 candidates in Mumbai-Thane region scuttled the winning chances of Shiv Sena-BJP candidates. Besides,the party featured among the top three in 29 Assembly segments across Marathwada,North Maharashtra,Pune and Western Maharashtra and Vidharbha. The party candidates came second in Chopda,Nandgaon and Sinnar while Ramesh Wanjle won the election in Pune. Two candidates sprung a surprise by polling the second highest votes in saffron strongholds of Kasaba Peth and Kothrud.

“We got a tremendous response to the locals vs migrants issue and Marathi campaign even in the far-flung regions of the state. During our Vidarbha tour,we were amazed at the response. We need to plan and organise ourselves to capitalise on this response,” a party leader said.