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MNS to take on Sena, support Modi
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena list Bala Nandgaonkar to fight from Mumbai South Aditya Shirodkar from Mumbai South-Central Mahesh Manjrekar from Mumbai North-West Raju Patil Kalyan from Dombivli Ashok Khandebharad from Shirur Pradeep Pawar Nashik Deepak Paigude from Pune

Mumbai, March 9
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has decided to target the Shiv Sena while going soft on the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Of the seven candidates Thackeray announced on the eighth foundation day of the MNS today, six would contest seats where the Shiv Sena will field candidates as part of its coalition with the BJP. The seventh candidate would contest from Pune. At present, the Pune seat is held by Suresh Kalmadi of the Congress and the BJP is seen as a weak player from there.

Raj Thackeray said the party would release its second and final list of candidates over the next few days. Extending support to BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi, he said, “We are in complete favour of Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister. We support his candidature.”

The MNS leader went on to say that his party would do well in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

From the Mumbai North-West seat, film maker Mahesh Manjrekar will face sitting Congress MP Gurudas Kamat. The Shiv Sena is fielding its veteran leader Gajanan Kirtikar from there, while the Aam Aadmi Party has already fielded its state president Mayank Gandhi.

Another high-profile candidate of the MNS is its sitting MLA Bala Nandgaonkar who has been fielded from Mumbai South, which is held by Milind Deora of the Congress. The Shiv Sena and Aam Aadmi Party have fielded Arvind Sawant, and Meera Sanyal, respectively, from this seat.

The other MNS candidates are: Aditya Shirodkar (Mumbai South-Central), Raju Patil (Kalyan-Dombivli), Ashok Khandebharad (Shirur), Pradeep Pawar (Nashik) and Deepak Paigude (Pune).