In an apparent swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said Thursday that his party as well as its ally BJP faced many electoral defeats in the past, but their leaders did not quit.
Rahul Gandhi has resigned owning moral responsibility for the Congress' Lok Sabha debacle.
Speaking after the inauguration of a public park named for former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in suburban Borivali, Thackeray said the Sena-BJP alliance faced many defeats in the initial years.
"It is only now that we are winning. Nobody runs away because of an electoral defeat. Vajpayee was also defeated in elections, but he did not lose heart. Nobody resigned back then," he said.
He did not name Rahul Gandhi though.
Thackeray himself has never contested an election.
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who shared the dais with Thackeray, praised Higher and Technical Education Minister Vinod Tawde for his efforts to set up the park, named Atal Smruti Udyan. Tawde is the local MLA.
"I am proud to have a colleague like you," said Fadnavis.
The praise came less than a month after Tawde lost his portfolios of school education, culture and sports in a cabinet expansion.