MVA meet: Thackeray bats for announcing CM face first; Pawar, Cong silent

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday insisted that MVA decide its chief ministerial face first rather than going by the logic of which party wins most seats, asserting he would back any candidate announced by the Congress and NCP (SP).

His Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Sharad Pawar, who heads NCP(SP), did not touch upon the contentious issue but stressed the need for a single-point agenda to change the government in Maharashtra if the situation has to improve in the state. Pawar told the MVA cadres the three partners will take along the Left outfits, Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) and Samajwadi Party by giving them due respect, and present a united face before the people of the state. The Congress too pitched for focussing on unseating the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition, with the party's state unit chief Nana Patole saying the leaders of INDIA bloc will decide on who will be the chief minister. Addressing party workers of the opposition bloc MVA here, Thackeray said if the Lok Sabha polls were to protect democracy and the Constitution, then the assembly polls are a fight to preserve Maharashtra's self-respect.

The meeting virtually kickstarted the poll campaign of the MVA. Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are likely to be held in October or November. The Sena (UBT) chief insisted the chief ministerial candidate must be decided first, rather than by the logic of the party that wins the most seats in the elections. Thackeray said the experience he had during his alliance with the BJP was that whoever had the numbers would get the CM's post.

But this policy was detrimental as it would lead to one party trying to defeat the other's candidate to maintain an upper hand in the alliance, he said. "First, decide (the CM's face) and then go ahead but do not go by this policy (those having the most seats will get the CM's post). Uddhav Thackeray will back any candidate announced by Congress and NCP (SP) as the CM face of MVA. I don't have the feeling that I am fighting for myself but it is for the rights of Maharashtra," he said.

Thackeray also asked the MVA cadres to rise above self-interest and fight for the sake of protecting Maharashtra's pride and interest and urged them to be the ambassadors of the opposition alliance in the state. On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for a secular civil code in the country, Thackeray wondered if he had given up Hindutva.

During his Independence Day speech, Modi had said, "I would say, it is the need of the hour that India should have a secular civil code. We have lived 75 years with a communal civil code. Now, we have to move towards a secular civil code. Only then would religion-based discrimination end. It would also end the disconnect the common people feel."

The PM noted that the Supreme Court has given various directions in this regard. The spirit of the Constitution also encourages such a code, he said, referring to Article 44 under the Directive Principles of State Policy. Thackeray slammed the PM and asked, "Have you abandoned Hindutva? You aligned with Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar who do not believe in Hindutva." He also targeted the PM over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and asked why it was not passed when the BJP was in absolute majority.

"Why did you bring the Waqf Bill to drive a wedge between us? And if you had to bring it, why did you not do it when you had the majority? My MPs were not there because they were with me. If it was going to be discussed, our MPs would have taken part in it," Thackeray said.

Thackeray's party came under criticism for not putting its view on the bill when it came for discussion in Lok Sabha last week. The bill was later sent to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny. "If you are going to steal Waqf Board land and give it to your industrialist friends, just like you are taking away land from our Hindu temples and giving it to your contractor friends, we will not allow any wrongdoing," he said while demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into land deals in Ayodhya.

Thackeray also dared the Election Commission to announce the schedule for Maharashtra polls. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader and state industries minister Uday Samant said there was no consensus in the speeches of leaders of the three parties that form the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

On its part, the Maharashtra BJP said the truth was finally out as Thackeray has finally admitted it was decided between the Sena and the BJP that whoever had more MLAs will get the chief minister's post. This formula was decided in 2019.

Thackeray's remarks also prove that he betrayed Hindutva and the Sena-BJP alliance for the post of chief minister, the state BJP said in a post on X. At the MVA meeting, NCP (SP) leader and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule hit out at the Mahayuti government over its flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana and said the ruling alliance had committed the sin of fixing a price for sisters' love. She jibed that leaders in the ruling dispensation remembered their sisters only after the Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling bloc, which consists of the BJP (9), the Shiv Sena (7) and the NCP (1), bagged just 17 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while MVA won 30 seats.