On Balasaheb's 94th birthday, MNS unveils new saffron flag, fuels speculation on ideology

Mumbai, Jan 23: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday unveiled his party's new flag which is saffron in colour, setting tongues wagging in political circles about a possible ideological shift.

Thackeray unveiled the new flag, which in the centre bears a 'rajmudra' (royal seal used during the times of warrior King Shivaji), at the party's plenary meeting in suburban Goregaon.

The party's earlier flag had saffron, blue and green colours. Before unveiling the flag, the MNS chief paid tributes to his uncle and late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on the latter's 94th birth anniversary on Thursday.

During the inaugural session of the MNS plenary meet, he also paid respects to Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar besides Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, B R Ambedkar and his grandfather Prabhodhankar Thackeray.

The MNS was set up in 2006 after Raj Thackeray split from the Shiv Sena. He was in August last year questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case pertaining to alleged irregularities related to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) loan to Kohinoor CTNL.