I won't contest elections: Raj Thackeray

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has said that his party would contest all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, but he would not be one of the candidates.

"Due to the kind of family environment I have come from, I believe in giving leadership and not in contesting polls. So, it is very much clear that I will not fight any election. But, MNS will definitely contest coming Lok Sabha elections," Raj, who is touring Vidarbha, said at a press conference in Amravati on Monday.

"We are raising various issues but changes we want in the state cannot be done without power," he said.

On whether he would forge an alliance with any party, the youth leader asked if there was any political outfit ready to join hands with him.

"MNS will contest polls on its own."

MNS has given exposure to the emotions of every Marathi manoos. The Jaya Bachchan episode is now closed, but hereafter nobody will dare to 'insult' Maharashtra, he said.

"I am against people coming to Maharashtra from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, their aggression on our culture and socio-political life. They are causing loss to our culture and increasing the problem of unemployment," the MNS chief said.

The MNS chief said he was getting 'excellent' response from people during his tour of Vidarbha, the cotton belt in Eastern Maharashtra that has seen large-scale farmer suicides.

He criticised the state's Congress-NCP government for externing his party's activists from Mumbai in wake of the agitation over the Marathi issue.

"It's a political vengeance. MNS will go to the court against this injustice of the state government," he added.

"I know the motive behind this aggression and hence I oppose them," he stated, without elaborating.

"Many CBSE schools are teaching Marathi as an optional subject. I have sent letters asking them to start teaching Marathi as a compulsory subject," Raj said.