MUMBAI: When asked if the Shiv Sena (UBT) would withdraw its candidate from the Mahim assembly seat from where MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s son Amit is making his electoral debut, party leader Sanjay Raut told a TV channel on Sunday, “Is Nehru or Babasaheb Thackeray contesting that we should take such a step? The youth should contest elections and test their ability to win.”
With Amit Thackeray taking the electoral plunge, there is speculation about whether the Shiv Sena and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will withdraw their candidates. BJP leader Ashish Shelar has suggested that the Mahayuti should support his candidature. In 2019, the MNS had chosen not to contest the Worli seat from where Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray was standing as a candidate of the undivided Shiv Sena which was then in alliance with the BJP.
“When support is required, then there have to be talks,” said Raut. He also asked, “Why is the BJP lobbying for this? The MNS is the sister concern of the BJP. Such parties are put up to cut votes of other parties. It is the BJP that has broken families and political parties,” he said.
Raut also said that while the MVA has not declared a CM candidate, his party would like to see its chief Uddhav Thackeray in the post. “It is our wish and also that of the people,” he said. Raut also said that the MVA is set to come to power in the state with 165-170 seats.
Raut dismissed rumours of a meeting between Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray. “I do not have any personal enmity with Fadnavis. But he is a political foe. These people have broken our party. They have used the court and Election Commission and the agencies against us. But this is a democracy. We will fight back through elections and win,” said Raut.
In response to Aaditya Thackeray’s electoral contest from Worli, Raut said, “People fear this young man. He has had to take on responsibilities and to fight. This creates enemies.”
