Claiming that the strong showing by his three-year-old party in the Assembly polls showed that the Marathi cause was for real, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said on Thursday that his MLAs would “control” the government in the legislature while he would continue to take to the streets for the sons-of-the-soil.

Thackeray was speaking hours after his party won 13 seats and made a strong debut in the Assembly, surpassing even its own internal estimates that gave the party around eight seats of the 143 it contested. Eleven of those 13 victories came from the Mumbai, Kalyan and Nashik regions, industrial belts with high migrant population and where the MNS’s identity politics have found strong favour with local Marathi youth. The party won one seat each in Pune and Aurangabad.

Thackeray said the people had reposed faith in him for taking up the Marathi cause and his MLAs would live up to it in the Assembly. “The Opposition failed for the last 10 years in the Assembly to play their role effectively. Now my 13 MLAs will show how the government has to be controlled by the Opposition in our own style. The results show that the Marathi cause is for real and there is support for us for taking up the issue,” he said. “My MLAs will raise these issues in the Assembly and I will be there on the streets.”

Asked about the personal campaign the Sena and the BJP ran against him, accusing him of covertly supporting the ruling Congress and NCP, Thackeray said it was time the Sena introspected as voters had shown who they favoured more. The good showing by the MNS would ensure it is recognised by the Election Commission as a regional party and also allotted the railway engine as its permanent symbol, MNS leaders said.

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