Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: In what raised political eyebrows, Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sought the help of the BJP for defeating Shiv Sena MLA and minister Abdul Sattar from Sillod in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
Sattar had joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who now commands the real Shiv Sena party.
In 2009 and 2014, Sattar had won the seat on a Congress ticket, however, in 2019, he contested from undivided Shiv Sena and later joined Shinde during the June 2022-23 split in the party and became a Cabinet minister looking after Animal Husbandry. He is the lone Muslim Shiv Sena MLA.
In fact, many of the local BJP leaders are against Sattar.
Addressing a rally in Sillod, Thackeray said: “We have our differences… However if anyone is ready to talk to me from your side, then I am also ready for it. We all should (sink differences ) and come together and defeat Sattar…all traitors have come together, they became ministers and are still hungry for power.”
Reacting to the speech, Sattar, a Muslim leader of BJP-led Maha Yuti, said that Thackeray was agitated as his government was toppled.
When BJP leader and state Tourism Minister Girish Mahajan was asked about it, he said: “Why…such a statement…the Maha Vikas Aghadi knows they would be defeated in the elections.”
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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