MVA got anti-BJP votes in LS polls, not due to rise in support base, says Raj Thackeray

Nagpur: The opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress got "anti-Modi" and "anti-Shah" votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls, leading to these parties doing well, and not because of an increase in mass support for the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference, Thackeray further claimed the outfits led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar will not get these anti-incumbency votes in the assembly polls, which are likely to be held in October-November.

"A huge portion of Dalits and Muslims voted against the BJP. These votes against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah went to Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and the Congress. These were not votes for the Maha Vikas Aghadi. This wave is now gone," he said.

Thackeray also said the MNS plans to contest 225 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls.

Slamming NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, the MNS chief claimed it is the former who brought the politics of caste and defection in the state.

After the NCP was founded, even saints got divided on the basis of caste, Thackeray alleged.

Thackeray said there was no certainty that people will vote for the ruling alliance even after schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana.

"People are asking for work, not money. Farmers don't want free electricity, they want uninterrupted supply," he said.

The MNS chief also questioned if the state government had the money to back these schemes.