Uddhav's political condition will worsen if he continues to align with Cong, says Bawankule

Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Tuesday said Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's political downfall started after he deviated from the path of Hindutva, and if he continues to align with the Congress, it would only worsen his condition.

He also said that if Thackeray keeps attacking senior BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, 18 of the 20 party MLAs will abandon him and he will end up having only two legislators by his side.

In the November 20 assembly polls, the ruling Mahayuti retained power in Maharashtra, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP won 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57 and the NCP got 41. In the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, the Congress 16 and the NCP (SP) 10.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Bawankule said, "Uddhav Thackeray's decline began when he deviated from the path of Hindutva. If he continues to align with Congress, his political condition will only worsen. He will be in a worse position than the Congress itself." "Uddhav Thackeray continues to challenge Fadnavis, claiming he will lose his deposit. But Fadnavis has won by around 40,000 votes. Whenever Uddhav tried to target him, Fadnavis has come back stronger, shining like the sun. If Thackeray continues to attack Fadnavis in this manner, he himself will end up with only two MLAs by his side. The remaining 18 will leave him." Fadnavis won the election from the Nagpur South-West assembly election. He received a total of 1,29,401 votes and won by a margin of 39,710 votes over his Congress rival Prafulla Gudadhe.

Bawankule said, "Thackeray's criticism of Fadnavis is leading to growing discontent among Shiv Sena (UBT) legislators, some of whom reportedly have a great deal of respect for Fadnavis. Thackeray's own MLAs have a soft corner for Fadnavis. They will run away from his party. Fadnavis is a mass leader and his influence continues to grow." Due to his departure from Hindutva, the Thackeray-led party faced setbacks in both - Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra assembly elections, he claimed.

Bawankule said the BJP is planning to enroll 1.5 crore new primary members.

"We are already working to create 50,000 primary members in each assembly segment. Our goal is to mobilise 500 active workers per segment, and this will greatly benefit us in the next civic elections," he explained.

On the future of the MVA alliance, the state BJP chief said, "No mayor or ZP chairman will be elected from the opposition alliance. The MVA parties will continue to shrink. This would further cement the BJP's growing dominance in Maharashtra's political landscape." The Thackeray-led party had joined hands with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after it parted ways with the BJP after the 2019 assembly polls over sharing the chief minister's post. The three parties then formed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance and ruled the state for over two-and-a-half years until it collapsed in June 2022. PTI ND NP