Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, said on Wednesday that members of the ‘Mahayuti’ (grand alliance) would now concentrate on capturing 45 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats in the national elections scheduled for next year.
The Mahayuti coalition consists of the BJP, the CM Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group).
Shinde criticized Uddhav Thackeray, the head of the Shiv Sena (UBT), for establishing relations with socialist organizations, telling reporters that this action amounted to the “adulteration” of Hindutva doctrine.
On Sunday, Thackeray asserted that disagreements with the heads of the 21 socialist parties in the state were mostly ideological and could be resolved for the sake of democracy.
“Many of them may be Muslims, but they are nationalists who want to protect the country’s democracy,” the head of Sena (UBT) had said.
CM Shinde was addressing to media just after midnight on Wednesday while attending a Navaratri event in Thane city.
When questioned about the subject of petitions for disqualification brought against him and other Shiv Sena MLAs, Shinde said, “In a democracy, the majority has significance and in the state legislature, 50 MLAs are with us, we are the genuine Shiv Sena, and this has been validated by the Election Commission. We have confidence in the legal system, and we know that any decisions will be made on the basis of justice and democracy. Shinde and other MLAs staged a coup in June of last year, which caused the Shiv Sena to divide and the Maha Vikas Aghadi administration to fall. Later, Shinde established a government with help from the BJP.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar and eight other party MLAs joined the Shinde-led administration in July of this year.
“The ‘Mahayuti’ constituents will now concentrate on making sure that 45 MPs are elected from the state,” the CM said. Shinde also announced that the “Azad Shiv Sainiks” Dussehra rally would take place in the Azad Maidan in Mumbai the following week and expressed optimism that it will be a success.
Because of the work done by our efforts to “free” the Shiv Sena and its bow and arrow emblem, it is known as the “Azad Shiv Sena.” “The EC has officially given us the Shiv Sena name and the bow and arrow symbol,” he said.
“This Hindutva is pure and authentic. Our thoughts are of the Hindutva of Balasaheb, hence this Dussehra gathering will convey that message, he added.
In response to the opposition’s assertions that his administration would fall, Shinde said that this would never occur.
“More than 200 MLAs have joined us, strengthening our government. The administration is working hard, he said.
The CM took aim at the Thackeray faction, claiming that they have allied themselves with Samajwadi organizations and that it would not be shocking if they did the same with the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM.
“This is a degrading act. It is a degrading of ideas. The position chosen in 2019 just for power has been observed by the whole nation. What should we anticipate from them? said he.
In addition, Shinde said that his administration wants to increase from the present 60 lakh to 2 crore the number of women who benefit from the state’s self-help organizations.
