Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday asserted that his party will reclaim the lost ground in the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, where it faced reverses in the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls last year. In a swipe at the rival faction headed by Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said there is only one Shiv Sena, and he leads it. Speaking at ‘Matoshri’, his residence in Bandra, the former chief minister said the people of Maharashtra need the Shiv Sena (UBT) as it is the only political party in the state that fulfils its promises. He was speaking after Mumbai Congress leader Sahdev Petkar returned the Sena (UBT) fold at Matoshri. “We will reclaim Konkan. The (poll) results of Konkan were unexpected. People can be fooled once, but not all the time,” Thackeray said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), a constituent of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), won nine Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra last year, but failed to emerge victorious in its one-time strongholds of coastal Raigad and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituencies which were bagged by the NCP and the BJP, respectively.
In the November 2024 Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena (UBT) won just one seat in the region — Guhagar. The party was virtually wiped out from south Konkan, where it ceded space to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The poll reverses were followed by a series of desertions in the region, including former MLA Rajan Salvi who joined the ruling Shiv Sena.
Thackeray also assured party workers he will tour the entire Konkan region, where the united Shiv Sena held sway for decades, to rejuvenate party workers and strengthen the organisation.
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Maharashtra’s coastal belt stretches from Mumbai to the southernmost district of Sindhudurg. Reacting to Thackeray’s plan to tour Konkan, state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed he will face the ire of his own party workers if he steps out. “Let him make any number of tours of the state, but he will face the heat from his own supporters who are unhappy with Sena (UBT) voting against the Waqf amendment bill,” said the BJP leader. Thackeray’s party opposed the bill because he wanted the votes of a “particular community” in the Mumbai civic elections, Bawankule alleged. “Uddhav Thackeray stole the people’s mandate post the 2019 assembly elections, but sat at home (after becoming chief minister). It was Devendra Fadnavis who toured the state then and raised issues of the people. Now, the Fadnavis government is in power with a massive mandate, and it will complete its tenure and also fulfill all the promises,” he added.