Raj Thackeray Likely to Meet CM Eknath Shinde after Amit Shah Meeting

Mumbai: There is a lot of talk about whether the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will join the Grand Alliance. On Tuesday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray met Amit Shah in Delhi. After this meeting, MNS's participation in the Grand Alliance is considered certain. However, there is still no clarity on how many seats will be given to the MNS. But after the Delhi visit, it has now come to light that a meeting between Raj Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be held. 

Talks are on to give two seats to MNS. It is said that MNS will contest the South Mumbai seat. These seats are held by the Shiv Sena. It is learned that Raj Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will discuss south Mumbai and Shirdi and Nashik seats. The meeting will be held at the Chief Minister's Varsha residence. The meeting will mainly discuss which seats to contest.   

Who has 5 lakh votes in Mumbai?

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had polled close to five lakh votes in the 2019 assembly elections, contesting in only 25 of the 36 constituencies. Will MNS get the same number of votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections? And if it does, whose victory will be counted is a matter of debate. Of the 4.62 lakh votes polled by the MNS in 25 assembly elections at that time, the highest 1.23 lakh votes were from Mulund, Vikhroli, Bhandup East, Ghatkopar West and Ghatkopar East, which fall under the North East Lok Sabha constituency. The MNS did not field a candidate from Mankhurd Shivajinagar here. The Lok Sabha victory is likely to be easy for BJP's Mihir Kotecha, who is pitted against the India alliance from here if the MNS comes along with the BJP.

It was followed by Anushakti Nagar, Chembur, Dharavi, Sion-Koliwada, Wadala, and Mahim in South Central Mumbai, a Shiv Sena stronghold with 96,498 votes. In Mahim, 42,690 votes were polled by Sandeep Deshpande of the MNS. After Mahim, MNS' Nayan Kadam got 41,060 votes from Magathane. The BJP has fielded Piyush Goyal from North Mumbai, which includes Magathana. In this constituency, which is a BJP stronghold, the MNS contested only three of the six assembly seats and secured 68,244 votes.