Raj Thackeray said that the dy CM had been pursuing him to ally with the Mahayuti. File Pic/Sameer Markande

MNS leader Shalini Thackeray on Tuesday through a social media post warned the Mahayuti against fielding Waikar or Nirupam as their candidate from Mumbai North West. Speaking to the media, she said, “The MNS party workers and supporters will not work for these two (Waikar and Nirupam) candidates.”

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Shalini Thackeray, speaking to mid-day said, “The Shinde camp does not have enough candidates and is dependent on leaders from other parties to join them. Ideally, the Shinde faction should have agreed to the MNS fielding a candidate without any conditions rather than asking to fight the election on the Shiv Sena symbol, a proposal which will never be acceptable to party chief Raj Saheb or any other MNS leader, worker and supporter.”

The MNS is objecting to Nirupam’s candidature on grounds that he is anti-Marathi, while it is opposed to Waikar being fielded as the politician is being subjected to a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly construction a luxury hotel on a Bombay Municipal Corporation  plot reserved for sports and entertainment.

In March, Waikar deserted Uddhav Thackeray’s camp and joined the Shiv Sena led by Shinde. While Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has announced Amol Kirtikar’s candidature for the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat, the Mahayuti is yet to finalise its candidate. Gajanan Kirtikar is the sitting MP from this seat. In 2019, Kirtikar Senior was elected on a Shiv Sena (undivided) ticket, but he shifted loyalties to Shinde. According to sources in the Shinde camp, the chief minister is not considering repeating Gajanan Kirtikar and instead contemplating Waikar and a few Marathi actors.