Mumbai: The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in the state marked its record-breaking victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on Thursday with a spate of congratulations.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis went to the Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence Matoshree in Bandra, accompanied by the BJP city president Ashish Shelar, ministers Girish Mahajan and Vinod Tawde, to offer him sweets.
Together, they held a press conference and thanked the public for their trust and bringing them to power at the centre, once again. Fadnavis said, while he was Uddhav’s younger brother, Modi, being the Prime Minister, was their elder brother.
Then Uddhav grabbed the opportunity to taunt his younger cousin and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, who had tried to influence Marathi voters at rallies with his masterful oratory, and playing videos (‘Lav re toh video’) exposing Modi and his false promises. ‘Lava rey te phatake (burst firecrackers)…’ exhorted Uddhav, cracking up the audience.
Further, wondered Uddhav, how could Rahul Gandhi have accepted victory from the Kerala Wayanad Lok Sabha seat if the Congress party was suspicious about the working of the electronic voting machines (EVMs). “If the EVMs malfunctioned, as per their allegations, then this should be the case in both, Amethi and Wayanad.
Just because he (Rahul) won elections from Kerala does it mean the EVMs were working properly at one place and not at the other?” he asked. Both Fadnavis and Uddhav cleared the air over rumours that their alliance would now be broken, since the elections are now behind them. Uddhav said, “Not just in the Lok Sabha but even after assembly elections, we will be together and in power.”
