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Ravindra Waikar, who recently quit the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) to join the Eknath Shinde-led party, reportedly said earlier this week that he had "two options" when he was with Thackeray's party – "switch political parties or go to jail". He later clarified his statement, saying that Udhhav Thackeray denied him support while "listened to him".
As the Shiv Sena heads into its first election after the split in the party, one of the major charges thrown at the Uddhav Thackeray faction by its rivals is that it has “diluted” its Hindutva agenda by siding with the Congress and NCP. The head of the Sena (UBT)’s youth wing, generally accepted as the heir to the Thackeray legacy, Aaditya Thackeray says the faction led by his father is representative of “true Hindutva… that takes everyone together”, unlike the BJP’s “electoral Hindutva”. He also says that the primary goal of Opposition parties like the Sena (UBT) is protecting the Constitution. Excerpts:
Maharashtra is a critical piece of the election puzzle this time — since the last Lok Sabha election of 2019, the traditional “communal vs secular” battlelines have been rearranged beyond recognition, after Shiv Sena and NCP splintered, and both government and Opposition were reconstituted. On the Opposition side, an unlikely alliance has taken shape — between Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray and the NCP (SP) led by Sharad Pawar. At Matoshri in the leafy Mumbai enclave of Kalanagar, a day ahead of the first phase of polling, The Indian Express caught up with Uddhav Thackeray, the man who is most in the spotlight. He is seen to have borne the brunt of the political disruption, with the bulk of his MLAs migrating to the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, which formed the government with the BJP; he has cast his lot with his “secular” opponent, and is now fighting his old “Hindutva” ally. Excerpts from an interview:
After months of back and forth, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Opposition alliance in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced a seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha elections. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) will contest 21 of the 48 constituencies in the state, the Congress 17, and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) will contest 10 constituencies.
With weeks to go for the Lok Sabha elections, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar severed ties with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Sunday and issued a March 26 ultimatum to the alliance to conclude seat-sharing talks.
Twenty-four hours after the Lok Sabha election schedule was announced, Mumbai became the site of the battleground between INDIA versus the NDA as Rahul Gandhi wrapped up his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
As the Congress announced its second list of candidates on Tuesday, there were no names from Maharashtra. With the Lok Sabha poll schedule expected to be announced in a few days, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is still struggling to wrap up seat-sharing allegedly because of a lack of coordination between the Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).