MNS may lose party symbol, status

MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray may lose his party symbol – the railway engine — and status of regional party, in the face of his party’s poor performance in the recent assembly election.
In 2009 assembly polls, MNS won 13 seats, while in 2014 and 2019, the party could get only one seat each. This time, the MNS lost all seats. In fact, Raj Thackeray’s son Amit’s poll debut was disappointing, as he came third in the Mahim assembly constituency. Thackeray described the results as “unbelievable” on Saturday.
Former principal secretary of state legislature Anant Kalse said on Sunday that MNS can’t claim the party’s symbol as it did not win a single seat this time. The party will have to choose from free symbols allotted to independents by ECI.
Political analyst, Mrinalini Naniwadekar, said, “According to ECI rules, any party should garner at least eight per cent votes if it has zero to one seat, six per cent votes if it has two seats and three per cent votes if it has three seats, in order to retain its party status and symbol.”
This time, MNS had 1.55 per cent vote share.
In Lok Sabha, the party did not contest a single seat as it supported the NDA to back prime minister Narendra Modi. MNS spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande said, “We will look into the matter and consult our legal team.”