Raj Thackeray unveils new saffron MNS flag, son Amit joins party

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday unveiled his party's new flag which is saffron-coloured, symbolising his party's drift towards the Hindutva ideology. Thackeray's son Amit also entered the political arena at the party conclave.

The flag has a rajmudra (seal) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with the party's name below it. The old MNS flag has three colours – saffron, green and blue.

The new flag was unveiled at the first maha-adhiveshan or conclave of the party at Goregoan.

Inaugurating the conclave, Raj Thackeray paid tribute to his mentor and Shiv Sena chief late Bal Thackeray as it is his birth anniversary. The MNS had, for the first time, kept a photograph of Veer Savarkar on the stage, another sign of the party's Hindutva shift as Savarkar is considered to be a Hindutva ideologue.

Thackeray's son Amit was also introduced as a leader of the party at the conclave.

After a series of defeats in successive elections, Raj Thackeray is now trying to reinvent his party. The MNS has just one legislator in the Maharashtra Assembly and a lone corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

There have also been speculations of an alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the MNS following Thackeray's meeting with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis earlier this month though the BJP leader said there was "no scope" for a tie-up.

"There is a difference in the ideologies of the MNS and BJP. There is no scope for an alliance. It is not possible until our ideologies are different. We can consider it in the future, if the MNS changes its ideology," Fadnavis had said after the meeting.

(Inputs and image from hindustantimes.com)