MNS city unit chief Bala Shedge said Raj Thackeray, who is also the party’s star campaigner, will hold only one public rally in Pune for the civic elections. “We have plans to organise the rally on the river bed under Z-bridge on February 11. We had applied to the district collectorate for permission on January 4, but it is yet to grant us the same.” “We are told that the tehsildar is busy and is not in office due to Zilla Parishad elections so it will take a couple of days more for them to give us permission. We also have to take permission from police 72 hours before the rally. If permission is not granted in time, we may face problems in obtaining police nods,” said Shedge. Asked what options the party has if permission is not granted in time, Shedge said, “We would organise the rally as planned on February 11. We wonder why the tehsildar did not have time to grant us permission though we applied for it over a month ago. Another party has been given the green signal for its event at the same venue, to be held on Tuesday.”

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