Mumbai/Pune: Vociferously raising the anti-loudspeakers campaign, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray reached Pune on Friday for his much-anticipated rally in Aurangabad on Sunday.

Raj, 53, is expected to chart out his fresh political voyage through the Aurangabad rally

Raj, 53, is expected to chart out his fresh political voyage through the Aurangabad rally and hopes to rattle the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, headed by his estranged cousin, Shiv Sena President and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, along with Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.

Shiv Sena Chief Spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut reiterated the MVA stance that the Centre should formulate a national policy on loudspeakers and accused “some abhongas” (loudspeakers) of attempting to foment strife in the state”.

Raj Thackeray started for Pune sporting a saffron shawl, and he occasionally adopts the Bala Saheb’s famed mannerisms and oratory styles but has unable to translate into votes at the hustings.

The rally timing is considered strategic, as a series of top civic bodies in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Aurangabad, etc are slated to go to polls soon as a run-up to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2024, where the MNS hopes to make its impact.

After a night camp in Pune, Raj Thackeray will get the blessings of a priest and then leave for Aurangabad on Saturday morning in a motorcade of over 400 vehicles, pay respects at the samadhi of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and then reach Aurangabad, where he will spend the night before his proposed Rally.

It may be mentioned here that Aurangabad has a substantial Muslim population and is currently represented in Lok Sabha by AIMIM’s Syed Imtiaz Jaleel.

With Ramzan at the fag-end and Raj Thackeray sticking to his anti-loudspeakers campaign on mosques with a deadline to yank them off by May 3, the Maharashtra government has geared itself to ensure the MNS rally passes off without untoward incidents.

After the May 1 rally got conditional permission, 2,000 police personnel and other forces, CCTVs, dog squads, metal detectors, drone surveillance, etc. shall be on high alert at the sprawling SM Ground here.

Sena’s Raut, ex-MP from Aurangabad Chandrakant Khaire, NCP’s Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, MP Supriya Sule and Congress leaders have scoffed at the MNS’s much-hyped event, saying there are bigger problems confronting the state and the nation.