In a massive setback for the INDIA Bloc in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday announced that the Uddhav sena will contest the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, and various local bodies alone. The decision comes after Maha Vikas Aghadi’s abysmal performance in the Maharashtra Assembly elections in November 2024, which has since caused a rift in the alliance that continues to widen.
“In an alliance, workers of individual parties don’t get opportunities, and it hampers organisational growth. We will contest polls to the Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur and other municipal corporations, zilla parishads and panchayats on our strength,” the Rajya Sabha MP said. He also said that the INDIA bloc and MVA alliances were for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, news agency PTI reported.
Raut said that the indications that the party should go solo in the upcoming polls were given by party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also hit out at Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for indulging in a blame game over the alliance’s defeat in the Maharashtra polls. Raut remarked that those who don’t believe in consensus and compromise do not have the right to be in an alliance.
He further claimed that the INDIA bloc were unable to appoint a convenor for the INDIA bloc in the state and that it did not even hold a single meeting after the Lok Sabha elections, the report said.
“We were not able to appoint even a convenor for INDIA bloc. It isn’t good. As the largest party of the alliance, it was the Congress’s responsibility to convene a meeting,” Raut said.
After the decision was made public, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi supremo Prakash Ambedkar claimed on Saturday that the decision taken by Uddhav Thackeray to break away from the MVA was taken keeping in mind his son Aaditya Thackeray’s interest.
‘How Can He Be Human?’: Raut Reacts To PM Modi’s Remarks In Podcast
On Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s statement that he has never mentioned farm loan waivers in his speeches, Raut said, “Even if he hasn’t spoken about it. Farm loan waiver and Rs 2,100 for Laadki Bahin beneficiaries are mentioned in the BJP’s poll manifesto. These two promises have to be implemented. He is the finance minister in the BJP government, and he will have to do it.”
He further reacted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that he is human and can make mistakes during his podcast debut with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, calling him an incarnation of god.
“He (Modi) is god. I don’t consider him a human. God is god. If someone declares him an incarnation of god, how can he be a human? He is the 13th avatar of Vishnu. If someone who has been considered god says he is human, something is wrong. There is chemical ‘locha’,” he said.
