Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will embark on a three-day visit to New Delhi starting Tuesday to meet with leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc, according to party MP Sanjay Raut. This will mark Thackeray’s first visit to the national capital since the recent Lok Sabha elections, Raut informed reporters in Delhi.
“This is a dialogue tour. Thackeray will meet leaders from the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Aam Aadmi Party. Ramesh Chennithala, the All India Congress Committee in-charge of Maharashtra, will also have discussions with Thackeray. Additionally, Uddhavji will interact with both Marathi and national journalists during his stay,” the Rajya Sabha member stated.
Thackeray is expected to meet Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and Maharashtra Congress Incharge Ramesh Chennithala to discuss the upcoming state assembly elections. He is also likely to visit the residence of jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, the Shiv Sena (UBT) secured 9 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. The Congress and NCP (SP), both part of the INDIA alliance, won 14 and 8 seats respectively. Elections for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly are scheduled for October this year.
On Saturday, Uddhav Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the former ally of engaging in “power jihad” by breaking political parties to form a government.
Responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s 'Aurangzeb Fan Club’ remark aimed at him, Thackeray likened the senior BJP leader to Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan king who defeated the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat.