Mumbai: Sidelined from State politics following successive electoral defeats since 2014, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has prepared a protocol guide for party functionaries to rebuild the fractured party administration.
Addressing MNS workers at a meeting on Monday, party chief Raj Thackeray warned them to “work as told” or else face the axe. “I will not tolerate favouritism in the party functioning from here on. In the meetings I have held with office-bearers, I observed widespread infighting and favouritism,” he said.
Mr. Thackeray, while announcing appointments of branch heads in all 227 wards, said office-bearers must follow the guidelines. “Everyone in the family will have a protocol to follow, and it has to be followed. I cannot be fooled now, since there will be a system in place,” he said.
According to a senior MNS leader who was involved in preparing the guidelines and programme schedule, the party will be the first in the State to undertake this unique concept. “The protocol is to make our leaders more presentable. This is to increase public outreach,” said the leader.
The party has chalked out 80 programmes, which every branch president has to undertake in the course of a year. “These include festival celebrations and social campaigns to reach out to people from all walks of life. The aim is to make these events as people-friendly,” the leader said.
The party leadership has asked the new branch heads to appoint lower-rung leadership, such as deputy branch head and gatpramukh. “The idea is to have one gatpramukh for 1,000 people. This is a complete rejig of the party structure. We have no option but to begin from scratch,” he said.