First step in politics doesn't mean becoming Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray on making son Aaditya CM demand

Mumbai: Retracting his party's erstwhile stance on making son Aaditya Thackeray the chief ministerial candidate, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said that the first step in politics does not mean that you have to become the chief minister of the state.

The Sena chief on Friday addressed a joint press conference with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and announced the final seat sharing deal between the alliance for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election. As per the seat-sharing deal, the BJP and its allies would be contesting on 164 assembly seats, while the Shiv Sena would field its candidates on 124 seats.

On being asked about Shiv Sena's demand for making Aaditya the chief minister if the alliance returns to power in the state, the Sena chief said, "The first step in politics doesn’t mean that you have to become the Chief Minister of this state. He has just entered politics, this is just the beginning."

Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray on 'Aditya Thackeray for CM demands': The first step in politics doesn’t mean that you have to become the Chief Minister of this state. He has just entered politics, this is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/8xNqfEdDt4 — ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2019

Senior BJP leader CM Devendra Fadnavis said that the BJP and Shiv Sena are associated with the thread of Hindutva. On Aaditya's candidature, Fadnavis said, " I am confident the Aditya Thackeray will win by a very huge margin in the elections and we will see him with us in the assembly."

Earlier, there were speculations that Shiv Sena was rooting to get the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra if the alliance wins the assembly elections. On September 30, the Shiv Sena had announced the party's decision that Aaditya will contest the forthcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra from the prestigious Worli constituency.

At the press conference held by Shiv Sena, party MP Sanjay Raut had indicated the Shiv Sena's resolve to see Aaditya in Chief Minister's Office. "Due to some technical glitch, Chandrayaan 2 couldn't land on the moon but we will ensure that this sun (Aditya Thackeray) reaches the 6th floor of Mantralaya (Chief Minister's office) on 21st October," Raut had said.

Aaditya is the first member of the Thackeray family to contest an election after Shalini Thackeray,  who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Shalini is the wife of Jeetendra Thackeray, a cousin of MNS founder Raj Thackeray.