He, however, made it clear that his party candidates, as and when they contest elections, will do so only on MNS symbol 'railway engine'.
A day after the MNS chief declared his unconditional support for the ruling Mahayuti alliance, Sanjay Shirsat, the spokesperson for the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, claimed the move would avoid the potential vote division in elections.
Praising the Centre for CAA, he said: "I do not understand why Muslims are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. CAA is not for the Muslims who were born here."
The MNS has convened a meeting of party office-bearers on Tuesday in Mumbai to discuss the issue.
The end of the process to withdraw nominations for Maharashtra assembly polls on Monday left the Congress in despair in Kolhapur North seat after its candidate Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati withdrew, while the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to convince Gopal Shetty to opt out from Mumbai's Borivali.
The election campaign was one of the most vitriolic in the state, but you would not have guessed it from the smiles and selfies from the politicians.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
After MNS threat, some people in Khultabad area, where the tomb is located, tried to lock the structure.
The posters also feature MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his son Amit Thackeray, who was recently inducted into the party.
Raj Thackeray listed out his expectations from the PM in his third term in office.
The toll waiver will be in force from midnight on Monday, he said.
Raj also justified his support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the construction of the Ram Temple and abrogation of Article 370 among other reasons.
Five workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena were arrested on Thursday for allegedly assaulting a north-Indian fruit seller in suburban Ghatkopar after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
A total of 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Monday, a poll official said.
Raj Thackeray announced unconditional support to the ruling 'Mahayuti' alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP in the state and backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While political experts claim that the Modi Magic is missing in the 2024 general election, the common people in the street -- at least those in the crowd on Thursday -- vow that they will vote for Modi and the candidate who contests the election doesn't matter much.
The police began serving notices to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena office bearers in Mumbai on Monday, warning them against committing cognisable offences, after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray called for a statewide road blockade agitation against toll collection.
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has been in the news for its aggressive stance against 'outsiders,' who the MNS says, deny employment opportunities to Maharashtrians. "We are not opposed to other communities, this is a wrong perception about us," MNS leader Nitin Sardesai insists in an exclusive interview with Rediff.com
'Raj will have to do a lot more to win over the public and overcome the trust deficit. It is a lot of work and needs political patience, which can come with maturity and understanding. All of these seem to be lacking in the man.'
'Devendra Fadnavis' brokering the deal between the MNS and the makers of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil raises questions about the chief minister's effectiveness,' says Neeta Kolhatkar.
As part of the celebrations, Govindas or Dahi Handi participants form multi-tiered human pyramids to break 'Dahi Handis' (claypots filled with curd) suspended in mid-air.
Shinde and Killary, along with MNS sympathiser Bala Nandgaonkar and other MNS activists, were picked up from Matunga in central Mumbai for instigating people and rioting, deputy commissioner of police Sunil Ramanand said.
According to insiders, "talks are on" between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena at "an exploratory level".
The deteriorating health of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has prompted the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena cadres to seek divine intervention. Since most of the party workers and leaders owed their allegiance to their parent organisation Shiv Sena before they crossed over to the MNS, floated by senior Thackeray's nephew, the failing health of the patriarch has made them worried.
The MNS chief started his speech with the name of Nehru, then paused. After a few tense seconds, he resumed: "After Nehru, here is the only politician who will be PM for the third term."
The workers were protesting and raising slogans outside Metro Cinema in South Mumbai.
About 10 MNS activists have been arrested from central suburban Dombivali and Kalyan so far for disrupting the exam and preventing candidates from appearing the examination, the police said.
After emerging as the single largest party but failing to secure a simple majority in the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation elections, Shiv Sena on Monday started negotiations with Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, a party source said in Mumbai.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena bubble has burst in the Lok Sabha polls.
Members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Saturday celebrated the 40th birthday of their leader Raj Thackeray by organising blood donation camps and other social activities.However, the MNS refrained from holding a Hatt Puja programme, a take-off on the Chhat Puja performed by north Indians, which has become a bone of contention between MNS and migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Over 20,000 supporters visited the MNS chief's home at Dadar and greeted their leader.
After hijacking the Shiv Sena's Marathi agenda, MNS wants to sustain the campaign by offering free Marathi classes to the non-Marathis in the city. "Marathi is the official language of the state and non-Maharashtrians should at least know how to communicate in Marathi," MNS district president (South Mumbai) Arvind Gavade told PTI. The MNS is planning to start the classes from March. There will be three lectures per week and the number of lectures can be increased.
Shalini Thackeray, general secretary, Chitrapat Karmachari Sena, the cine wing of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, told rediff.com that the MNS is not targeting ABCL chairman Amitabh Bachchan in its bid to strengthen its position for the upcoming civic polls in Mumbai in 2012.
The Congress in Maharashtra is making all efforts to woo the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to back United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee for the presidential poll on Thursday.
The MNS -- which aggressively compelled a ban on employing Pakistani actors and others in Bollywood last year -- has been subdued in comparison after a Marathi manoos was sentenced to death in Pakistan.
Starring Ranbir, Aishwarya, Anushka and Fawad, the film is slated to release on October 28.
Hitting back at Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh, who recently snubbed him for extending an "unsolicited support" to Narendra Modi and "seeking votes" in his name without joining the Shiv-Sena-BJP-RPI alliance, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday taunted Singh for raising the objection, while Modi was silent on the issue.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Monday asked private carrier Jet Airways to make announcements in Marathi and also Marathi movies and newspapers mandatory in flights operating from Mumbai.
Raj Thackeray's political party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), has attacked Amitabh Bachchan once again. This time, they mocked him through a poster, for going back on his decision to donate his agricultural land to farmers in the Pune district.
Election to the 122-member Nashik municipal corporation has thrown a hung house, but indications are that the new ruling disposition may be either a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena-Nationalist Congress Party combine or MNS-Bharatiya Janata Party tie-up.