Mumbai: Buoyed by his success in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has issued a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come to Maharashtra to campaign for the BJP in the upcoming state assembly elections.
“We fought the Lok Sabha elections so fiercely that even Modi broke into a sweat. Now, he must come to Maharashtra for Vidhan Sabha polls,” Thackeray said while addressing the party leaders at Bandra.
He expressed confidence that despite all odds like losing his party name (Shiv Sena) and symbol (bow and arrow) to the rival camp led by CM Eknath Shinde, he will return to power.
“This (Vidhan Sabha polls) is the last challenge for us; after this, no one will challenge us. They broke our party and family. Now they are standing to challenge us. Shiv Sena is not a rusty sword but a shining one. We had to fight to preserve Mumbai,” said Thackeray.
In a clear sign that the acrimony between him and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has escalated further, the Sena (UBT) chief dared the BJP leader by saying “Either you will not be there or I will not be there.”
Thackeray said that former state home minister Anil Deshmukh had told him about how Fadnavis had hatched a conspiracy to put him and his son Aditya Thackeray into jail.
“Anil Deshmukh told how Fadnavis had hatched a conspiracy to put me and Aditya in jail. Having endured everything, I am standing with full strength. Either you (Fadnavis) will or I will be there,” he said.
Meanwhile, responding to the allegations, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that Uddhav does not have the caliber to criticize PM Narendra Modi. His language of breaking Modi’s sweat is hilarious, he added.
“Uddhav, when he was the CM, made several vehement attempts to put Fadnavis in jail. He stabbed Fadnavis in the back, tried his best to put him in jail... and now using arrogant language to eliminate him. But the people of the state will destroy your arrogance,” Bawankule said.
