A day after switching over from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to the Shiv Sena, Shweta Parulkar attributed her move to her growing discomfort with the hate campaign against migrants, the presence of a coterie influencing the decisions of MNS chief Raj Thackeray and her belief that the MNS is not serving the Marathi cause.

Parulkar, who headed the MNS women’s wing till Raj Thackeray dissolved it, said she was unnerved by the way the Marathi campaign had turned into a hate-and-violence campaign.

“There was euphoria and excitement with the way things were going last year for the Marathi campaign. However, I’m not happy with the way things have gone since then. There was no policy and discussion in the party,” said Parulkar.

“There were hardly any meetings where policies or ideas were discussed; it was a coterie around Raj that was deciding everything,” she said.

She said the coterie influences Raj Thackeray’s decisions. Incidentally, when Raj Thackeray broke away from his uncle’s Shiv Sena three years ago, he too said a coterie was guiding the working of the Sena.

Parulkar, however, gave full marks to both Thackeray cousins when it came to leadership qualities. She said Raj Thackeray is a person with great vision but people around him were not thinking about the party.

Also, Parulkar did not express any regrets for being associated with MNS. The former actress had teamed up with Raj Thackeray when he formed the MNS.

She said a group within the MNS was working against her during the Lok Sabha elections, which forced her to rethink about her presence in the party.

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