Mumbai, Dec 11 (NIE): MNS president Raj Thackeray on Sunday met the eight party workers, who spent over a week in jail after they alleged vandalised the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee’s office at Azad Maidan, and reportedly congratulated them for the act.

The office had been vandalised on December 1 and the Mumbai Police had arrested eight MNS workers, including former Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Corporator, Sandeep Deshpande. They had been remanded in police custody for over a week and were released on bail on Friday.

The eight were called to Krishnakunj, the residence of Raj Thackeray, on Sunday. “We cannot leave activists in time of trouble. Whatever they did was for the party and Rajsaheb wanted to tell them that the party stood behind them,” a senior MNS leader said.

The party is planning a state-wide tour of Thackeray from next year with an eye on the 2019 Assembly elections.

“We held a meeting to draft the party’s future plans. Our president would be going on a statewide tour from next year to strengthen our base,” MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said.

The MNS has been trying hard to reinvent itself in the state. While the party had managed to gain some traction over its stand on hawkers after the Elphinstone Road railway station stampede, it has been losing leaders who are choosing to defect.