After keeping a low-profile for years, 31-year-old Amit Thackeray, the son of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, was in the limelight last year when he held a series of rallies across Maharashtra in his position as the head of the MNS youth wing. Amit is back in the news now. On July 20, he was stopped at Sinnar Toll Plaza on Samruddhi Expressway (Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway), after a toll staffer allegedly misbehaved with him and kept his car waiting at the plaza. Upset over the incident, the MNS workers allegedly ransacked the toll plaza hours later and made its functionary apologise. A video of the incident went viral on social media. Amit said, “I had come to visit Shirdi, my vehicle had FASTag (electronic toll collection system) on it but I was stopped at the toll plaza. When the boom barrier did not rise, my associates inquired about the issue. But the staffers spoke arrogantly. They later called their manager who also was arrogant. Our car was made to wait for 10-15 minutes at the toll before letting us go.” The Nashik Rural Police subsequently arrested the MNS workers. They were released on bail Wednesday. Amit went to Nashik Wednesday to meet the party workers. He also said: “These workers have got cases against them for me. This is not an easy thing. I am here to congratulate them. I am not saying that everyone should now vandalise the toll. The workers did this out of love for me without thinking about the consequences of it and hence I thought I should come here and congratulate these workers.” Amit, who belongs to the third generation of the larger Thackeray family, had been part of the MNS's campaigns for over 10 years now, having first made an appearance during the 2012 Mumbai civic polls that year. He was given a formal role within the party in 2014, when the MNS students' wing or the MNS Vidyarthi Sena held its first rally. That his role in the party would grow was made apparent in January 2020 as Amit shared the stage with his father during the unveiling of a new flag for the party. This was the event where he was made the party's youth wing president. Unlike his cousin Aaditya Thackeray, two years his senior who has also served in ministerial positions, Amit has chosen to remain mostly behind the scenes and is known for his “organisational strategy and cadre-building skills”. Over the past three years, Amit has been touring Maharashtra to build the base of the MNS by visiting party offices and workers. However, he has not made any major speech at these events, choosing instead to interact with people away from the media. "He (Amit) is someone who connects with the grassroot-level party workers. He has been holding meetings with them on a regular basis. He has not addressed the party so far. He will at the right time. He has a charismatic personality and a leadership quality," a senior MNS functionary said. Amit frequently takes up environmental causes and has been opposed to the construction of the Metro car shed at Aarey.
