With days left for Maharashtra to go to polls, the statement by MNS chief Raj Thackeray that “Maharashtra will get surprises after elections” has triggered speculations about the party’s equations within Mahayuti. His statement comes amid rumours of a tiff with Shiv Sena leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over the Mahim seat where Raj’s son Amit Thackeray is a candidate.
Raj made the statement during his campaign for MNS candidates. “Nobody can predict what will happen in this election. I think this time we will get many different surprises. Wait for another 8-10 days. You will get to know the surprises in store soon,” Raj said, refusing to add further.
His statement amid his earlier endorsement of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the next Chief Minister is viewed by many as suggestive of a distrust between the MNS and Shiv Sena led by Shinde. Thackeray who was all praise for Fadnavis, however, called Shinde a “kind and generous man.”
On his statement about Fadnavis becoming the next Chief Minister, Thackeray clarified: “I said if the BJP government comes, then the coalition government will come. It is not my wish but my prediction that Devendra Fadnavis will become the Chief Minister. It is an alliance. They will decide who to make Chief Minister. But, certainly, the next government will not be formed without our support,” said Raj Thackeray.
Meanwhile, Shinde too made his displeasure known in an interview with a local channel on Saturday. On the controversies surrounding the Mahim seat, Shinde said some matters have to be discussed over time.
On his relationship with Raj Thackeray, Shinde acknowledged that there was a communication gap between them over the Mahim seat. “Raj Thackeray is the head of his party. I am the Chief Minister and head of my party. The party workers have to be protected and the party has to run,” Shinde told ABP.
He called Raj Thackeray “a good friend”. “I never want any argument, so do they. We have no differences with Raj Thackeray,” Shinde said, adding that there was no permanent enemy or friend in politics.
Earlier, Shinde had given the AB Form to his Mahim candidate Sada Sarvankar, thereby rejecting Fadnavis’s request to withdraw the Shiv Sena candidate. Sarvankar too slammed the BJP and MNS, stating that had Balasaheb Thackeray been alive today, he would never have asked any candidate to vacate his seat for relatives.
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