Opposition leaders are claiming that Uddhav Thackeray recently traveled to Delhi to meet Congress leaders in a bid to secure his nomination for the Chief Minister's position. This allegation has stirred reactions not only within Sharad Pawar's NCP but also from Congress members. Amidst these developments, MPs from the Shinde faction have made a startling claim that during Thackeray’s three-day stay in Delhi, a high-profile individual from South Africa visited him.
Naresh Mhaske, a Shinde faction MP, has alleged that Thackeray went to Delhi "with a begging bowl, asking to be made the Chief Minister," but was reportedly snubbed by Congress. "No one in Delhi took him seriously," Mhaske criticized, referring to the visit as a failed political maneuver. He further claimed that Uddhav Thackeray, along with his family, spent those three days camped at Sanjay Raut’s residence. According to Mhaske, during this time, one of the Gupta brothers, infamous for their involvement in a multi-billion rand scandal in South Africa, visited Thackeray.
Mhaske asserted that the meeting between Thackeray and the Gupta family member lasted nearly half an hour. "Perhaps Raut had the CCTV cameras at his residence turned off, but there are cameras on the streets around the area. There should be an investigation into who arrived in the black-tinted vehicle at Raut’s bungalow on the evening of the 7th," Mhaske demanded. He also called for a probe into the purpose behind Uddhav Thackeray’s meeting with the controversial Gupta brothers.
"Sharad Pawar has already written that Uddhav Thackeray knows little about politics," Mhaske continued, hinting at a conspiracy. "Could it be that Sanjay Raut arranged this meeting with the Gupta brothers to trap Thackeray? After all, a leader from the NCP also has ambitions to become Chief Minister, and they might see Thackeray as an obstacle. There’s reason to suspect that Raut is planning not only to entrap Uddhav Thackeray but his entire family," Mhaske suggested.
"With the loss of power, the flow of funds to the Thackeray family has dried up. Now, they might be seeking election funds through questionable means, and the meeting with the Gupta brothers could be part of this. We demand a thorough investigation into this matter," Mhaske concluded.