Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said his party was firmly behind the people of Maharashtra despite being in power, and asked the party leaders to raise the farmers' issues vigorously. The Shiv Sena is part of BJP-led coalitions at the Centre as well as in the state. “I do not bother about criticism. My intentions are genuine,” Thackeray said, addressing party legislators and district unit leaders here. “People understood our genuineness, which is why we got votes in the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
He had asked BJP president Amit Shah and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to give priority to farmers’ issues, Thackeray added. The Sena workers are working to provide relief to distressed farmers and their livestock, he said.
Ex-Congress MLA meets Uddhav Thackeray
Mumbai: Expelled Congress MLA Abdul Sattar met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday, fuelling speculation that he may join the Sena. Sattar, who represents Sillod constituency in Aurangabad district, said his 30-minute meeting with Thackeray at the latter's residence here was a “courtesy meeting”. “There was no discussion about joining the Shiv Sena. I am independent leader now and free to meet a leader of any party,” Sattar said. He will join “some or other party”, and “if that doesn't work out, I will contest Assembly election as an independent”, he added. The Maharashtra Assembly polls are due in September-October. The Congress expelled Sattar for engaging in “anti-party activities” during the Lok Sabha polls.
