Mumbai: The newly elected member of Parliament Amol Kolhe of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) met Raj Thackeray, chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), at his Dadar residence on Wednesday, setting off a flurry of speculation in political circles.
Kolhe said he had gone to thank Raj, as the campaign rallies addressed by the latter helped him win the Shirur Lok Sabha seat.
"I went to express thanks to Raj Thackeray, who had campaigned for me. His campaigning had a positive impact in my constituency and I am grateful to him. There was no discussion on politics, it was a completely lighthearted interaction," said Kolhe.
He defeated the Shiv Sena candidate, Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, in the latter's stronghold of Shirur. Interestingly, Kolhe had crossed over from the Sena to the NCP just before the elections.
Raj had, in fact, attracted considerable attention during the run-up to the LS elections, with his utterance, "Laav re toh video", which had audiences in splits, as he satirised the shortcomings of the ruling dispensation.
At that time, analysts had theorised that the response Raj was getting for his rallies would help the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party in the elections, as people would vote against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena. However, this did not happen.
However, the rallies held by Raj only benefited the Nationalist Congress Party only in the constiutencies of Raigad, Shiroor, Satara and Baramati. However, the Congress won only one seat in the state, in Chandrapur.
