Ahmedabad: Union Minister Narayan Rane on Thursday claimed the Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena (UBT) will not win more than five seats in the Maharashtra Assembly elections due next year.
Taking a dig at Uddhav Thackeray for meeting leaders of various political parties to garner support, Rane told reporters here that Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray never visited offices or residences of other political leaders.
Amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push for implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in the country, Rane said the Central government has done many things for tribals and to help entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.
"I firmly believe that we will be able to convince them on this issue," the minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said in reply to a question. Rane was here to address the media over the completion of nine years of the BJP-led central government under PM Modi.
'Shinde govt going strong'
Talking to reporters here, Rane said, "The BJP and Eknath Shinde's government is going strong in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena is now left with only 13-14 MLAs. Their numbers will go down to less than five MLAs after the 2024 Assembly elections."
At present, the Shiv Sena (faction under Uddhav) has lost its significance, the former Maharashtra CM further claimed.
Rane, who in the past was a member of the Shiv Sena and Congress before joining the BJP, expressed confidence that the BJP will once again come to power at the Centre by winning more than 400 seats (out of the total 543) in the Lok Sabha elections due next year.
BJP's UCC peg
Asked if the UCC issue will be at the centre of BJP's poll campaign in 2024, Rane said the decision will be taken by the party leadership.
Since several tribal organisations are against the implementation of UCC and have already expressed their concerns, Rane said the central government will try to win them over on the issue.
"Our government has done many things for tribals. My MSME ministry had also launched schemes to help and support entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. I firmly believe that we will be able to convince them on this issue," Rane said.
