Won't give up Marathi agenda at any cost: Raj Thackeray

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray today said he will not compromise on the core issues like promoting the Marathi cause and the development of the state, though his party has suffered a drubbing in the recently held civic elections.
Thackeray said this while addressing a meeting of the party office-bearers and the leaders here to take stock of the MNS' organisational set up and the defeat it suffered in the civic polls, including in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
According to the party sources, senior leaders Bala Nandgaonkar, Nitin Sardesai, and Aditya Shirodkar were tasked to prepare a detailed report of the MNS' performance in the BMC polls, where the party's tally came down to 7 seats from 28 seats it had won in 2012.

MNS was also routed in Nashik civic body, where it was the ruling party.
Sources said the report was submitted to Thackeray today.
The sources said that the MNS workers have expressed that Thackeray did not properly highlight the issues faced by the common people and also failed to take them to their logical end.

The meeting also discussed the need to take along all sections of the society living in Mumbai, a party leader said, suggesting the deviation from the party's the sons-of-the soil agenda.
However, Thackeray maintained that as the MNS is a Maharashtra-specific party, he would not give up the Marathi issue at any cost.

MNS had suffered crushing defeat in the 2014 Assembly elections also, with its tally reduced to just one seat in the Legislative Assembly from previous 13 MLAs.