In another encroachment on Shiv Sena territory, Raj Thackeray launched the Maharashtra Navanirman Janadhikar Sena (MNJS) ) on Tuesday. The outfit is modelled on the lines of the Shiv Sena's Sthaniya Lokadhikar Hakka Samiti (SLHS), which has played an important role in the Sena’s ‘jobs for locals’ plank.

While Raj sought to underline that the MNJS was not launched to counter any other organisation, few buy that line. Particularly, as the first unit of the MNJS has come up in the public sector State Bank of India (SBI), the same place where the SLHS was launched.

Apart from the inroads into Sena territory, the MNJS also ensures Raj's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) a presence in white collar establishments like government and semi-government offices and private undertakings. As opposed to the blue collar Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), which was established in 1968, the SLHS set up in 1972 caters to the white collared class.

MNS general secretary Shirish Parkar, who is in charge of the MNJS, accused SLHS leaders of “getting caught in the net of power”, and added that they had “forgotten the original motive (of the SLHS)”.

Parkar accused SLHS leaders of also trying to push for non-Maharashtrians in job recruitment in the Railways. Speaking to The Indian Express, Parkar claimed staff from organisations like the MTNL and Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) wished to join the outfit.

Reacting to the new MNS challenge, Shiv Sena MLA and SLHS head Gajanan Kirtikar said “we will not be checkmated”. The SLHS, he said, functioned as a “pressure group” and not a trade union and had at times ensured that more than 80 per cent of the jobs went to locals. He added that the SLHS went to the extent of distributing application forms once advertisements for jobs were released and holding training sessions for candidates.

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