Strained ties ahead of 2019 polls: Uddhav Thackeray fumes, Devendra Fadnavis tries to reach out

MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tried to extend his hand of friendship to ally Shiv Sena which contested and lost the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll against the BJP.

Fadnavis’ reaction came on a day Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged ‘discrepancies’ in counting of votes and asked opposition parties to “unitedly boycott” elections if controversies surrounding electronic voting machines were not resolved quickly. He also threatened to drag the Election Commission to court over the Palghar bypoll result and sought suspension of election officers over the “sudden increase” in voting percentage there.

“When the BJP won the Palghar Lok Sabha seat in 2014, the victory margin was of lakhs of votes. Today, they barely managed to win by a few thousand votes,” Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai. Although Thackeray stopped short of announcing break up of alliance with BJP the ties between the two sides seem to have worsened further after the bypoll result.


“I am not ready to accept this defeat because negotiation, money, threats and divisiveness were used to win the polls,” Thackeray alleged. Fadnavis on the other hand tried to make up : “A lot of discord has happened between the two allies during the elections. It was a bitter battle and we would be happy if it could have been avoided. However, from our end, the elections are over and there is no bitterness,” he said.

The CM said the two parties, Sena and BJP, have been allies for the past 25 years and questioned if they need to fight elections in such a manner. On whether he would still like to have an alliance with the Sena, Fadnavis said, “We are ready for an alliance, but it cannot happen on its own. They (Sena) also have to respond. However, it does not mean that we are afraid. If we have to contest on our own, as we had to in Palghar, we would do it but it’s better for both the parties if we contest together.”