Uddhav faction of Shiv Sena announced that it would contest Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur Municipal Corporation elections and other local bodies independently. It is a big jolt to the INDIA bloc in Maharashtra.
During a press conference, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut elaborated on the decision to contest alone. “In an alliance, workers of individual parties don’t get opportunities, which hampers organizational growth. We will contest on our own strength.” Raut slammed the failure of the INDIA bloc to select a convener in Maharashtra, pointing at the leadership vacuum: “It is not good. The Congress should have called a meeting, being the single largest party in the alliance,” he said.
Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena UBT, along with Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party SP and Sonia Gandhi from the Congress party, named it Maha Vikas Aghadi after his decision to withdraw from the BJP-led NDA alliance in 2019. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, an alliance between several regional parties is in the final leg – MVA combined with Trinamool Congress, DMK to form a coalition called the INDIA bloc.
Raut also attacked Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, who had blamed allies for the MVA’s defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Raut said no meeting of the INDIA bloc was held since the Lok Sabha elections last year. Prakash Ambedkar, chief of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), joined the political chorus and felt Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to walk out of the MVA was done keeping his son Aaditya in mind.
This comes a week after SP chief Sharad Pawar publicly praised the RSS, citing its efficient methodology and Hindutva campaign as reasons behind the BJP’s success in last November’s state assembly elections. At a party event in Mumbai, Pawar also counselled his party rank and file against complacency, particularly after the MVA’s sterling performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
