Shiv Sena to contest 53 seats in Gujarat polls
The Shiv Sena had earlier also contested the Gujarat polls but did not get any seat.
Mumbai: In the Gujarat assembly elections scheduled on December 9 and 14 in which the direct fight is between ruling BJP and opposition Congress, Shiv Sena is trying its hands on 53 constituencies. The party is confident that its Hindutva agenda and Marathi population in some pockets would help the party. The Shiv Sena had earlier also contested the Gujarat polls but did not get any seat.
The party hopes to win the seats this time as the BJP is facing anti-incumbency. “Shiv Sena has Hindutva appeal and the people are responding. They are fed up of BJP and its high-handedness everywhere in the state. The entire party machinery has been excessively used for the campaign. A clip of threatening voters by BJP leader has gone viral that shows how the party functions. Our state chief Umesh Engineer has made a complaint to the Election Commission in this regard,” said Sena leader Anil Desai, who is busy with the Gujarat campaign.
Mr Desai claims that the party will get good response in Surat, Baroda, Rajkot among other areas. Sena ministers Sanjay Rathod, Dadasaheb Bhusa, Arvind Sawant, Chandrakant Khaire and a few other leaders are busy campaigning for the party.
When asked if Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray or Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray would be going for the campaigning, Desai said that it would be decided later. “There are still days for the campaigning,” he said.
It has remained the strategy of Sena to contest independently in other states though it is an alliance partner with the BJP-led NDA in Maharashtra. The party had earlier contested in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh separately.