Mumbai:

The Sena versus Sena battle heated up on the event of the Shiv Sena basis day as Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde held parallel programmes in two components of Mumbai. And from Sion’s Shanmukhanand Corridor, Uddhav Thackeray, powered by the individuals’s assist, issued an open problem to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Modi-ji I invite you to begin marketing campaign for meeting election in Maharashtra… it is going to be you versus me,” he mentioned, pointing to the election due by year-end.

“My message to the BJP — strive successful an election with out utilizing my unique image. I’m proud that we didn’t use anybody else’s image. We are going to by no means use both, particularly of PM Modi. I problem PM Modi to begin preparations at the moment – protecting this faux Shiv Sena away,” he added.

Mr Thackeray additionally rubbished hypothesis in regards to the two Sena factions becoming a member of fingers and remaining within the NDA fold. He would by no means go together with those that tried to “end off” his social gathering, Mr Thackeray mentioned.

Although the insurgent faction led by Eknath Shinde was awarded the title and election image of the undivided Shiv Sena by the Election Fee, the voters had decisively settled the legacy concern. And they didn’t agree with the ballot physique.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena received 9 seats and the Shinde faction seven.

The opposite social gathering in the identical boat,  the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Occasion, received eight seats. The faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar — which additionally received the title and social gathering image from the Election Fee — just one.

Ally Congress received 13 seats.

The individuals’s disapproval of the political upheaval within the state prolonged to the BJP, which, Mr Shinde as soon as let slip, had engineered the Sena break up. The social gathering’s rating was minimize right down to 9 seats, from 23 in 2019 .

However Chief Minister Eknath Shinde remained decided to push the purpose he primarily based his rise up on — that Mr Thackeray had strayed from the ideology set down by Sena founder and his father Balasaheb Thackeray.

“The place has your Hindutva gone? You don’t have any proper to hunt votes in Balasaheb Thackeray’s title,” he mentioned at a large rally in Worli’s NSCI dome.  “Even a small child will let you know that the Shiv Sena UBT received due to the Congress’ vote financial institution. Those that left Bal Thackeray’s ideas for place, misplaced within the election. Bal Thackeray at all times talked towards the Congress,” he added.

However Mr Thackeray had already coated the purpose.

“We received votes of all patriots, individuals of all religions. They mentioned we left Hindutva, as a result of we went with the Congress. I didn’t go away Hindutva. If everybody voted for us to save lots of the nation and the structure, then persons are with us. It reveals the BJP is the one which left Hindutva,” Mr Thackeray mentioned.