Mumbai, April 30 As the deadline for filing nominations for the upcoming Legislative Council (MLC) elections ended on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a stinging verbal assault on Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The ruling party alleged that Thackeray chose to "sacrifice" Ambadas Danve politically rather than risking his own prestige in a contested election.
The elections for nine MLC seats appear set to be unopposed after the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party factions, decided not to field any additional candidates.
The BJP filed five nominations, Shinde’s Sena two, and both Nationalist Congress Party factions one each. However, the nomination process within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was marked by significant internal friction, which the BJP was quick to mock.
State Spokesperson Navnath Ban ridiculed the MVA’s decision-making process, labelling it a "comedy circus."
He remarked, “The people of Maharashtra are happy and satisfied that they sent this alliance home,” Ban stated. He added that if they cannot even decide on a single candidate for the Legislative Council without breaking into a sweat, how would they have ever run the state, and said this is the question the public is asking. He further alleged that Thackeray "pushed Danve forward" to save himself.
The most pointed criticism was directed at the selection of Ambadas Danve, who is the former Leader of Opposition in the State Council. Ban claimed that despite nearly 500 aspirants within the MVA vying for the single winnable seat, Uddhav Thackeray unilaterally announced Danve’s name.
The BJP spokesperson alleged that internal warnings from Sanjay Raut played a role in this decision. He claimed that Sanjay Raut reportedly warned Thackeray that if he (Uddhav) contested, he might face defeat due to internal rebellion. To avoid his own political sacrifice, Uddhav Thackeray pushed Ambadas Danve forward as a sacrificial lamb, Ban claimed.
The BJP leader further predicted a complete breakdown of the MVA alliance in the coming days. "The 'Teen Tighada, Kaam Bighada' (three-way mess) of the MVA is now out in the open. Very soon, these three parties will be at each other's throats," he added.
Ban also noted that Danve is strictly a candidate for the 'UBT' faction and not a consensus candidate for the entire MVA.
He concluded by suggesting that the ruling Mahayuti alliance would take "appropriate steps at the right time" regarding the numbers game, further fuelling speculation about the upcoming vote count.
Earlier, in a direct jab at Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership style, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Shinde remarked on the opposition’s strategy.
“When it is time to fight, they always push someone else forward. It’s a case of 'Tum laddo, hum kapde sambhalte hain' (You fight, we’ll hold the clothes). While it is their internal matter, it shows their approach,” he taunted.
--IANS
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