The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) hopes to be the winner in Maharashtra following the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. The Raj Thackeray-led party claims disgruntled Shiv Sainiks may jump ship and join en masse due to the Sena abandoning its plans of going it solo. The MNS, which had faced electoral washouts in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, is hoping to project itself as the rightful party of the Marathi cause. MNS sources have said that they are seeking either the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat or the Mumbai North East seat, both of which have a large number of Marathi voters. A senior MNS leader said that the Sena's decision to ally with BJP despite claiming it will contest all future elections on its own has resulted in disgruntlement in the ranks. It's this disgruntlement that MNS is hoping to tap into. The sources also said the MNS is considering names of former MLA Bala Nandgankar and party general secretary Shirish Sawant as likely nominees. This, coupled with the polarisation over the son-of-the-soil issue, would make the MNS genuine contenders from here, they said. In Kalyan, MNS has 10 local corporators, and is planning to field local leader Pramod (Raju) Patil. The seat is currently represented by Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde, state minister Eknath Shinde's son. In 2009, MNS had fielded 12 candidates across Maharashtra, and its presence in the fray ate into the Sena's voteshare. However, a series of missteps saw the party losing all nine Lok Sabha seats and all 13 Assembly seats. Sharad Sonawane from Junnar in Pune was the party's only victor in 2014.

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