Shiv Sena (UBT) blames Congress for alliance's defeat in Maharashtra assembly elections: 'They behaved as if…'

pc: dnaindia

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Thursday criticized the Congress, saying its overconfidence has negatively impacted the performance of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Danve said that after the Lok Sabha elections, Congress was overconfident wherever it had contested.

He said, “It is true that the Congress was overconfident. After the Lok Sabha elections, wherever elections were held – be it Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir or Maharashtra – this overconfidence was clearly visible. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress won the Lok Sabha elections. Worked hard during the elections and India Block also saw the results, but they were overconfident.”

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also said that Maha Vikas Aghadi remained engaged in seat sharing talks till the last day.

Ambadas Danve said, “We remained engaged in discussions on seat sharing till the last day, when those days should have been spent talking to the public. Some seats should have been given to Shiv Sena, but Congress was not ready to agree. He behaved as if only the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister matters to him.”

Danve further asserted that if Uddhav Thackeray's name had been floated as the chief minister, the results would have been different. He said, “Uddhav ji's name should have been put forward for the post of Chief Minister. If he had been projected as the CM candidate from the beginning, there could have been a lot of change in the results.”

He also pointed out that the Sambhajinagar seat, where Shiv Sena has been working for the last five years, was given to Congress and it should have won it. “After the Lok Sabha elections, Congress members were already preparing to wear suits and ties, thinking about which portfolios they would get. They were not even discussing the election results,” Danve said.

Furthermore, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said that he will now work to strengthen his party on all the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra. He said, “Shiv Sena members have demanded that we should strengthen the party on all 288 seats and preparations for this should start immediately. The organization will be strengthened on all 288 seats. Shiv Sena has never compromised with Hindutva. Shiv Sena does not need to be taught Hindutva by anyone. However, we believe that Hindutva does not mean disrespecting other parties.”

The BJP emerged as the largest party in the 280-member Maharashtra Assembly with 132 seats, while its allies – Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP – won 57 and 41 seats respectively. Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faced a major defeat in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) got only 20 seats, Congress got 16 and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) got only 10 seats.