“Elections Can Happen Any Time”: Uddhav Thackeray

The former chief minister of Maharashtra and current head of Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray, has said that elections in Maharashtra can happen at any time, and his party is prepared for it. Thackeray’s faction has challenged last year’s change of guard in the state, and the matter is still pending in the Supreme Court. Thackeray expressed hope that the eventual verdict would be in his favor. The rift in Shiv Sena led to the present chief minister Eknath Shinde forming a breakaway front with over 40 loyalists, which eventually joined hands with BJP to bring down the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state. The BJP and the rival Sena camp later formed the government with Eknath Shinde as the chief minister and former CM Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. Thackeray also claimed that he did not allow injustice to any religion during his term in office and dared the BJP’s state unit to declare that it would contest the next Maharashtra elections under the leadership of Eknath Shinde.Uddhav Thackeray, while addressing a public meeting, stated that the Maha Vikas Aghadi, an alliance of Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena, has completed three years of its existence. He also addressed the accusations made by BJP and the Shinde camp of him abandoning Hindutva and claimed that he did not allow injustice to any religion during his term in office. Thackeray stated that he bore true allegiance to the oath of office that he took and all places of worship were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic without any discrimination.