Mumbai: Responding to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, former CM Devendra Fadanvis challenged him to face the election again to prove his party has the mandate.
Fadnavis also appealed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers to fight with Shiv Sena and forget that they were friends for decades while addressing the concluding session of the BJP state council meeting.
The season's theme was Sankalp: Navya Watchalicha, Maharashtrachya Sanmanacha (Resolve for a new path, for the pride of Maharashtra), a clear indication that BJP will chart a new path that will be aggressive against the Shiv Sena and the government led by it.
Earlier, Thackeray had challenged the BJP to dislodge his government while speaking at a programme in Jalgaon, "I challenge them to dislodge my government.
Our alliance is very strong and our government will not fall," said Thackeray, responding to BJP's criticism that his government will fall due to the differences within the alliance.
Responding to this challenge, Fadanvis challenged the CM to face the assembly election to seek a fresh mandate.
"We will not dislodge your government. If you have courage, you should again contest the election. We are alone and you are three parties. Show the courage to fight the election again," he said amid applause by workers.
He also taunted Thackeray on the issue of his proposed visit to Ayodhya on March 7. "It is due to Narendra Modi the trust for construction of Ram temple was formed.
Now, many people are going to visit Ayodhya. This visit may awaken your original Hindutva ideology. May Lord Shree Ram remind you the Hindutva of Balasaheb Thackeray," he taunted.
"One worker met me and asked who should we fight? The workers were in a double mind as Shiv Sena was our friend for decades. But I quoted the same question Arjun asked during the war of Mahabharata. Lord Krishna told him that since the Kauravas have sided with adharma (injustice), he should fight with them.
Now, Sena has sided with adharma, we should fight against them," he said. This is the time to fight against the Shiv Sena and the Maha Vikas Aaghadi government with all our might, he added.
He also demanded an apology from NCP Chief Sharad Pawar for allegedly misleading people on CAA. "Pawar is making false claims that nomadic tribes and scheduled tribes will not get citizenship under CAA. He should apologise to Narendra Modi for such false propaganda," he said.
