Shiv Sena announces Uddhav Thackeray as its Maharashtra CM candidate

NEW DELHI: Taking cue from MNS chief Raj Thackeray, the Shiv Sena today announced Uddhav Thackeray as its candidate for the post of Maharashtra chief minister. In a press conference, Sanjay Raut said, "Uddhav Thackeray will be Sena-BJP’s CM candidate in Maharashtra Assembly election."

Although, Times Now sources say that BJP does not want its Maharashtra CM candidate to be from Shiv Sena and would rather field someone from the party because it enjoys a larger presence in the state.

Raj Thackeray's MNS failed to garner any vote in the Lok Sabha elections and his decision to contest for the post of Maharashtra CM is seen as a move to bolster his party's flagging fortunes.

Political analyst Kumar Ketkar believes that Raj's move to contest the polls is a tactical one to hurt the Shiv Sena, the party that he once was an integral part of, rather than come to power.

"His party workers were very demoralised by the Lok Sabha performance and so he had to do something drastic and by declaring that he would contest the assembly polls, he has renewed some enthusiasm in the party cadre," said Ketkar.

(Inputs from Krishna Kumar, ET Bureau)