Another BJP-Shiv Sena face off? Uddhav Thackeray says only Shiv Sainik will be Maharashtra CM
New Delhi: Amid speculations that Aaditya Thackeray will be projected as the chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming elections, Shiv Sena chief and former’s father Uddhav Thackeray has said that a Sena worker would one day become the state’s chief minister.
Uddhav, in an interview to Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana, said: One day, a Shiv Sainik would become the chief minister of Maharashtra, it is a promise that I made to my father and Sena founder late Balasaheb. It doesn’t matter if anyone agrees on it or not, I and the party are working towards it.”
Uddhav further said his son taking a plunge into electoral politics does not mean he is retiring. “Aaditya contesting the Assembly election does not necessarily mean I am retiring from active politics. I am very much around,” he said.
This comes days after Uddhav downplayed speculations about his son being the chief ministerial candidate in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Last week, while addressing a joint press conference with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Sena chief had said that it is just the beginning of a political career for his son and entering politics does not mean becoming chief minister.
“The first step in politics doesn’t mean that you have to become the Chief Minister of this state. He has just entered politics, this is just the beginning,” he had said.
The CM also exuded confidence over the victory of Aaditya and said: “I am confident that Aditya Thackeray will win by a very huge margin in the elections and we will see him with us in the Assembly.”
Aaditya Thackeray, grandson of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, is making a political debut by contesting the Maharashtra elections 2019 from Worli constituency in Mumbai. He is the first member of the Thackeray family to contest elections and the October 21 polls are being seen as a litmus test for the party, whether it can bank on the young leader’s popularity to win the public mandate.
Aaditya, who filed his nomination papers from Worli seat on Thursday said that he is “CM, a common man”. The Sena chief’s son added that he decided to enter electoral politics in order to ‘respect the sentiments’ of his party members.
“I have always been in politics. I have always loved this profession. When I saw politics closely for the past nine years.. the choice was, whether the party will accept me as an MLA… Common man means CM. My campaign will be for a new Maharashtra,” he had said.
Aaditya, who joined politics in 2009, has been actively working for his party by building a cadre of new young leaders.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have forged an alliance ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra elections which will be held on October 21. The BJP will contest 150 seats while Sena has been given 124 seats, followed by 14 seats for allies.
