NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Thursday sharpened his attack on Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Congress, claiming the party became “overconfident after the Lok Sabha elections”.
Danve said the MVA would have performed better had they announced Uddhav Thackeray its CM candidate for the Maharashtra elections in which the bloc faced humiliating defeat.
Read more: Shiv Sena (UBT) won’t walk out of MVA, says Sanjay Raut
“Congress was overconfident after Lok Sabha elections. People of Congress were ready with coats and ties to divide portfolios. Had they projected Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister, election results would have been different, number of votes would have been higher,” Danve told news agency ANI.
After the drubbing in the Maharashtra assembly polls, cracks have started appearing in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance as Shiv Sena (UBT)’s newly elected MLAs and functionaries have urged party chief Uddhav Thackeray to contest civic and local bodies elections independently, at least in cities where the party was a dominant force until recently.
Read more: After ‘Maha’ drubbing, Sena (UBT) leader hints at party going solo in future polls
On Wednesday, Danve hinted that a section of workers feel that the party should go solo on upcoming elections. “There is a feeling among a large section of the party to contest the elections independently.
It is immaterial whether Shiv Sena (UBT) gets power or not. The party was not born to seize power. It is a party that works on an ideology,” Danve, who is the leader of opposition in the legislative council, told new agency PTI.
Earlier in the day, Sanjay Raut, however, clarified that his party would not be leaving MVA and that any such claims were mere conjectures.
The MVA, which comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) and Congress, suffered a humiliating defeat as it won only 46 out of the 288 assembly seats.