History

The party was established on March 9, 2006 by Mr. Raj Thackeray. He was earlier a
member of the Shiv Sena
Raj Thackeray is the nephew of the late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and cousin to
Bal Thackeray�s son Uddhav Thackeray
Raj Thackeray had already carved out a name for himself and was politically quite
prominent in the inner workings of the Shiv Sena. However, Bal Thackeray�s
successor had already been chosen and it wasn�t Raj. He also expressed frustration
that the party was �run by petty clerks�
Along with frustration at his being ignored thus, Raj Thackeray also had
disagreements with his cousin Uddhav and in January 2006 he left the Shiv Sena and
went into seclusion
On March 9, 2006 at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, he declared that he was creating a new
political party. He named this party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS. Another
name given to MNS is �manase�
Raj Thackeray also explained the significance of the colours on the flag. He said
that the green stood for Muslims, the saffron for Hindus and the blue for Dalits.
He revealed the symbol of the party � a steam engine � which he said signified the
progress he intended for Maharashtra to make