Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday mocked the BJP’s claim that it would win 43 out of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming general polls, dubbing it “far-fetched” and “bereft of reality”. The Sena claimed the situation was grim in the state and wondered how could the BJP think of winning so many seats when the party-ruled state was staring at a slew of problems and the alliance talks with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party were still hanging fire.
On Saturday, CM Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve had claimed that their party would win 43 seats, one more than in 2014, in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Maharashtra accounts for the second highest number of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the country after Uttar Pradesh, which has 80. The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna on Monday, claimed that several issues were plaguing the state at present.
“The BJP-led government tried to crush the agitation of farmers’ daughters in Ahmednagar. There are no good returns for onion growers and milk producers. Teachers are agitating over their demand for filling 24,000 vacant posts in government-run schools, while over 1,000 children have died in state-run shelter homes in last four years,” it claimed.
The Sena once again raised its demand for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and lashed out at the BJP over it. “If the BJP has electronic voting machines (EVMs) and over-confidence on its side, it can win all 48 seats in Maharashtra,” the daily taunted.
