The BJP’s push to maximise its Lok Sabha seats tally in Maharashtra is likely to resurrect Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) from political oblivion. Determined to blunt the challenge by the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, the BJP has reached out to his estranged cousin.

Raj Thackeray reached Delhi last night and met Union Home Minister Amit Shah today, apparently to discuss his party’s possible entry into the NDA. “I was told to come to Delhi. So I came. Let’s see,” the MNS chief said on arriving in the national capital. He did not speak to the media after the meeting.

MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande has said they will share details of the meeting soon. “Whatever decision will be taken will be for the greater good and in the interest of Marathis, Hindutva and the party,” he said.

The MNS, it is learnt, wants three seats – South Mumbai, Shirdi and Nashik.

Why Is BJP Wooing MNS

The answer to why the BJP is reaching out to MNS lies in how Maharashtra’s political landscape has transformed since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In the last general election, the BJP and the Shiv Sena contested the polls together. The alliance decimated rivals and won 41 out of the state’s 48 seats. Months later, it clinched another victory in the state polls. But differences over sharing power led to the Sena parting ways with the NDA. The Shiv Sena, then led by Uddhav Thackeray, teamed up with NCP and the Congress to form the government. But more drama was to follow. In 2022, Sena leader Eknath Shinde led a mutiny that toppled the Uddhav Thackeray government. Mr Shinde then joined ranks with BJP to take over. In the legal battle that followed, Uddhav Thackeray lost his party’s name and symbol and his camp was named Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

In a strikingly similar manner, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP split after a rebellion led by his nephew Ajit Pawar. The NCP veteran, too, lost his party’s name and symbol and now leads a faction named NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). So from a straight contest in 2019, the Maharashtra Lok Sabha fight is now a multipronged battle with the BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena on one side and the Congress and the camps led by Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray on the other.

The BJP knows that it is a tricky terrain and it is in no mood to take chances in the politically-significant state that is critical to the BJP’s target to win 370 Lok Sabha seats. So to counter the Uddhav Thackeray factor, it has reached out to his cousin Raj.

MNS Eyes Big Return

Founded in 2006 after Raj Thackeray walked out of Shiv Sena over differences with cousin Uddhav, the MNS recorded its best electoral performance in the 2009 state polls when it won 13 seats. In the 2014 elections, however, it emerged as the big loser, winning just one seat. In the 2019 polls, too, its tally remained unchanged.

Over the past decade, Raj Thackeray has struggled to stay in the political limelight with often controversial remarks in the media. When the Shiv Sena split, he went all out against his estranged cousin, holding him responsible for the party’s crisis. He has also warmed up to Eknath Shinde, with the two leaders meeting on several occasions.

If the seat-sharing talks with the BJP are finalised, the MNS may get a shot at reviving its political fortunes.

Union Minister Pashupati Paras announced his resignation Tuesday morning and withdrew his Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party from the BJP-led national alliance. This comes a day after the BJP confirmed a seat-share deal with the Lok Janshakti Party of Mr Paras’ nephew, Chirag Paswan.

The BJP-LJP deal – part of a broader arrangement within Bihar for next month’s Lok Sabha election – sees Mr Paras’ party completely sidelined; the RLJP was given zero seats while Mr Paswan’s LJP was allotted five, including the Hajipur constituency won by his uncle in the 2019 election.

“The NDA (the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance) deal has been announced. I am grateful to the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). My party and I faced injustice. So I am resigning as minister.”

Mr Paras was non-committal on talk of a deal with the opposition – either with the state-level Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance or with national-level INDIA bloc led by the Congress.

He has, however, already confirmed his RLJP will contest the Hajipur seat.

Pashupati Paras “Free To Go Anywhere”

Last week – amid reports the BJP had finished its Bihar deals, and that he had been frozen out – Mr Paras said his RLJP and its five MPs, including himself, would contest the seats they won in the last election and the party itself is “free to go anywhere”, leading to talk of a deal within the opposition.

Mr Paras won Hajipur five years ago as a member of the then-undivided Lok Janshakti Party. It was led then by party founder and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was Chirag Paswan’s father.

The elder Paswan – who died in October 2020 – was an eight-time MP from Hajipur, which has never been won by the BJP.

BJP Sides With Nephew, Dumps Uncle

That the national party has opted to side with the faction of the LJP led by Chirag Paswan underlines the belief that he now has complete command over the community vote.

The Paswans account for around six per cent of the voting population in Bihar.

The only problem for the BJP could be that Mr Paswan and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) – the other major partner in the state alliance – don’t really get along.

READ | It Is Official. BJP Picks Chirag Paswan, Dumps Pashupati Paras

The Chief Minister holds the LJP responsible for his party’s poor showing in the 2020 Assembly election, in which the JDU contested 115 seats but won only 43. This was after Mr Paras split the LJP, control of which was being contested by himself and Chirag Paswan after Ram Vilas Paswan’s death.

That split was allegedly backed by the BJP and, as a result, the younger Paswan contested the state election on his own and split the votes, with some community strongholds going to the BJP.

The result was the BJP won nearly twice as many seats.

BJP-JDU Deal For 2024 Election

This time, the BJP is set to contest more than half of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats – a clear sign it now has the upper hand in its relationship with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).

READ | BJP To Contest 17 Seats, JDU 16, Chirag Paswan’s Party 5 In Bihar

The party has retained 17 seats and given the JDU 16; in 2019 the two contested 17 seats each and the LJP (led then by Ram Vilas Paswan) contested (and won) the rest. The BJP also returned a 100 per cent strike rate. The JDU lost just the one seat – Kishanganj went to the Congress.

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The Supreme Court today came down heavily on Patanjali Ayurved for failing to respond to a contempt notice for issuing misleading advertisements and ordered yoga guru Ramdev to appear before it.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also summoned Patanjali managing director Acharya Balkrishna.

The Supreme Court last month pulled up Patanjali for prima facie violation of its assurances about its products and statements claiming their medicinal efficacy. The court had issued a notice to Patanjali and Balkrishna, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

Read | Supreme Court Warns Ramdev, Patanjali, Tells Them To Stop “Misleading” Ads

It noted today that Patanjali did not file a response even though it had held a press conference after its previous order. “Why haven’t you filed your response yet? We will ask the managing director to appear in the court during the next hearing,” the court said.

The order states both Ramdev and Balakrishna were prima facie in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Drugs and Remedies Act, which deal with misleading ads of medicines.

The court also issued a contempt notice to Ramdev, co-founder of Patanjali, and asked him to explain why he should not face action for contempt of court.

Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Patanjali Ayurved, opposed the move and sought to know, “How Ramdev comes into the picture?”

Read | “Entire Country Is Being Taken For A Ride”: Supreme Court On Patanjali

“You are appearing. We will see on the next date. Enough,” the court replied.

“We had our hands tied earlier but not now. As an officer of the court, you (Mr Rohatgi) should know your position,” said Justice Amanullah.

The court was hearing a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) alleging a smear campaign by Ramdev against the vaccination drive and modern medicines.

On February 27, it had issued a contempt notice to Patanjali and cautioned them against from making any statements against any system of medicine in the media. It had also pulled up the centre for not taking action and said they were sitting with their eyes closed.