Compromised on seat share to remain in power: Uddhav
MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena compromised in the seat sharing talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to retain power, party chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Monday.
Clarifying his stand a day ahead of the party’s Dussehra rally, where he is scheduled to address workers, Thackeray said he compromised to serve the people of the state.
In an interview to Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Thackeray said he has shown “maturity” in dealing with the alliance. “We have formed an alliance with a resolve... I compromised in the alliance, but for Maharashtra. We are contesting fewer seats because [Maharashtra CM Devendra] Fadnavis and [state BJP chief] Chandrakant Patil requested me to understand their problem, which I considered,” he said in part one of the interview.
The Sena, which had pressed for at least 135 seats of the 288 in the state Assembly, settled for 124, and two seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the BJP quota.
The BJP and its smaller allies are contesting 164 seats in the Assembly polls to be held on October 21. “I forged the alliance for power and there’s nothing to hide in that. With that power, I can give something to the 164 constituencies where Sena’s workers were ready to contest,” Thackeray said.
He stressed that he is working towards fulfilling his promise to Sena founder and his father Bal Thackeray that he would install a Sena chief minister in Maharashtra. “I am not going to quit politics until I fulfil the promise made to Balasaheb of making a Shiv Sainik the chief minister of Maharashtra. I will do it,” he said.
His son, Aaditya Thackeray, is the first person from the Thackeray family to contest elections since the Shiv Sena was founded in 1966. The Sena has fielded him from the Worli constituency. “He is contesting, but that doesn’t mean that he will immediately become CM or deputy CM... He wants to have some legislative experience. He is interested in that,” Thackeray said on the responsibility Aaditya will take on if elected.
On the BJP not fulfilling its promise of a 50:50 seat-sharing formula, Thackeray said that the people of Maharashtra are not blind. “Maharashtra is seeing everything—who is behaving in what manner and who is standing beside them,” he said. In a veiled jibe at the BJP, Thackeray also said that if there is no intent to fulfil promises, then building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is “hollow”.
The Sena is expected to push the BJP to keep up its word on sharing power and responsibilities equally, if the saffron alliance comes back to power. According to Thackeray, an equal distribution of responsibilities and power is an “extremely important” aspect of the alliance. “When the alliance was announced, it was said that power and responsibilities will be shared equally. It is an extremely important part. Once the government is formed on October 24, then people will come to know. I’m confident about it,” he said.