Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Friday set political circles aflutter when he said that the party sees its leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as a "future Prime Minister of India".
In his address at the Shiv Sena's 54th Foundation Day, Raut said that the dream of the party's founder-supremo, the late Balasaheb Thackeray, of seeing a Sena CM has come true.
"However, we want to see Uddhav Thackerayji as the next Prime Minister. Now is the time to lead not only the state but also the country," he said amidst applause.
He urged Thackeray to "now cross the border of the state as it is the time to lead the country".
Raut said it is only because of Thackeray's leadership that Maharashtra has been able to tackle the Covid-19 crisis effectively.
Earlier, in his address to partymen at the Sena Bhavan and across the state via video-conferencing, Thackeray said that the party has not compromised on its ideologies nor bent before anybody.
"I am here as the CM to change the kind of politics that was played with us. Trusting is not our weakness, but our tradition, 'Pran jaaye par Vachan na jaaye' is our culture. The Sena and its chief will never bow before anybody," Thackeray declared.
He said that people often refer to how he kept encountering one cyclone after another, "but for me the Sena itself is one storm with the Sainiks as its protective shield" .
"I may have lessened communication with you but will never be far from you. In the future, we shall make a Shiv Sainik as the Prime Minister of India," vowed Thackeray.
Several top leaders of the party, various ministers including Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, party MPs, MLAs, elected representatives in civic bodies across the state attended.
Earlier today, Nationalist Congress Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar warmly greeted Thackeray and the Shiv Sena on its 54th Foundation Day celebrations and congratulated all the party leaders and workers.
Paying homage to the memory of the late Balasaheb Thackeray, who launched the Sena on June 19, 1966, Pawar lauded the party's contributions at the social, political and cultural levels over its long journey and said he was happy to work with the Sena-NCP-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
( With inputs from IANS )