Postpone Assembly election due to flood situation: Raj Thackeray

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday demanded the postponement of Assembly polls due to the unprecedented flood situation in Maharashtra.

Accusing the Fadnavis government of using the flood situation to campaign for the upcoming election, the MNS chief argued that elections would impede relief and rehabilitation work.

“The state will take a long time to restore normalcy in flood-hit districts. On humanitarian grounds, it would not be prudent to hold elections. Hence, the election in the state should be postponed. The party will also write a letter to the election commission in this regard,” he said on Saturday.

The 288-member  Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is expected to go to polls in September-October this year.

Reacting to Mr Thackeray’s demand, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis argued that the state government did not have the power to postpone elections and that the final call will be taken by the election commission.

The MNS chief also accused the Fadnavis-led state government of being indifferent to the difficulties of flood-affected people.

Mr Thackeray further alleged that the saffron party continues to prioritise rallies and inducting turncoats.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is turning a blind eye towards the floods as it has become arrogant due to power,” he alleged.

However, the BJP hit back at Mr Thackeray, alleging that he was the only politician thinking about elections at the moment while all BJP leaders were busy with relief work.

"It is the Election Commission which will decide the dates of the Assembly polls. For now, government's priority is to conduct rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected districts," said BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye.