My father is ‘most accepted face’ in Maharashtra at present, says Aaditya Thackeray

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday said his father and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is the “most accepted face” in the state at present.

While Congress leaders have pointed out that the chief minister’s post traditionally goes to the party in an alliance that wins the highest number of seats, Aaditya said at the India Today Conclave here that his father was one of the “foremost leaders who can lead Maharashtra.” Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) are part of the Opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state and INDIA grouping at the national level.

Asked what would the Sena (UBT) do if the Congress won more seats in the coming state elections, Thackeray referred to the work done by his father’s government during the coronavirus pandemic, and said it was one of the best governments of the past few decades.

“Even today, he is the most accepted face. If you go out to the hinterlands of Maharashtra, farmlands of Maharashtra, and (ask people) they will tell you that Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray is the only man who stood with us in our toughest of times,” Aaditya said.

Asked if he would like Uddhav Thackeray projected as the face of the alliance, Aaditya said, “If today there is a person who can lead the state in a unified manner, in a manner that is able, (then) yes, Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray stands as one of the foremost people who can lead Maharashtra because we want someone who will speak about Maharashtrian pride.

“As of today, if you ask me do you pitch him as chief minister candidate? I think it depends on how we perform,” Aaditya added.

Seat-sharing talks of the MVA were proceeding in a better manner than those of the BJP and its “broken” allies in the ruling Mahayuti coalition, he claimed.

To a question about the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s low strike rate in comparison to its allies in the Lok Sabha elections, Thackeray said his party won nine seats even after it had lost 40 MLAs and 12 MPs (when Eknath Shinde split the party in June 2022 and toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government).

The votes it polled in Thane and Dombivli, considered to be Chief Minister Shinde’ strongholds, were “very good”, he added.

Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the Congress won 13 of the 17 seats it contested, Sena (UBT) won nine out of 21 and NCP (SP) eight out ten. The Sena (UBT)’s strike rate of 42 percent was lower than the rival Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s 47 per cent strike rate.

“We may go low in terms of strike rate but we will not lose out on principles which the BJP compromises on for electoral gains,” the Thackeray scion further said.

“We have a clear-cut understanding in the MVA. We are not fighting for the post. We are not for the chief minister’s post or selfish purposes, which is why the BJP broke its alliance with us. We are fighting this for the pride of Maharashtra which is lost due to BJP’s misgovernance,” he further said.

The MVA, which is fighting to “save the state from the BJP,” will win the electoral battle, Aaditya added.