mumbai

Updated: Dec 11, 2017 21:29 IST

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s son Amit, 25, got engaged to fashion designer and long-time girlfriend Mitali Borude in a private ceremony at Tote On The Turf, Mahalaxmi racecourse, on Monday afternoon.

The date of the engagement, December 11, was chosen as it is also the wedding anniversary of Thackeray and his wife Sharmila.

At the small function attended by close family and friends, notably absent was Thackeray’s cousin and political rival Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his family. A source close to the MNS chief said that Thackeray did not invite his cousin Uddhav, as he is upset with the Sena’s recent poaching of MNS corporators in the civic body.

Six of the seven MNS corporators broke away from the party and joined the Shiv Sena recently. Sources close to Raj said the MNS chief is bitter about the way Sena poached on his party corporators, even though he was willing to cooperate with the latter in the Brinhamumbai Municipal Corporation, where the Sena is in power with outside support from the BJP.

Smita Thackeray, ex-wife of Uddhav’s brother Jaidev Thackeray, and their son Rahul attended the engagement.

With just 60 to 70 people attending the event, it was a low-key affair, and only political leaders present were those from the MNS--Nitin Sardesai, Bala Nandgaonkar and Rajan Shirodkar. Other guests included prominent photographer Avinash Gowariker, and Raj’s relatives Chandrakant Vaidya, and Jaijaiwanti Deshpande.

Amit, a commerce graduate from DG Ruparel College, and Mitali, a close friend of his sister Urvashi, have known each other for more than nine years. His fiance has a clothes label called The Rack, which she launched a few years back.

Clad in a deep blue kurta and embroidered jacket, Amit said: “Mitali has designed and stitched the clothes herself.” When asked about their wedding plans, Mitali said: “It takes a lot of preparation, so there is some time for that.”

Thackeray soft-launched Amit into politics during the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, when he held road shows in Mumbai. During the 2017 civic polls, Amit started a Facebook page to interact with voters and woo the youth. The page has more than one lakh followers.

It is anticipated that Thackeray will launch Amit into politics soon, in a bid to revive the MNS’ dwindling popularity.

Amit faces competition from his cousin, Aaditya Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray’s son and the leader of Yuva Sena, which has gathered following in Mumbai since Aaditya’s launch in 2010.