'Why did you not announce...': Raj Thackeray attacks Uddhav for 'cheating' people

Raj Thackeray said that Uddhav's Shiv Sena fought the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls in alliance with the BJP, but created a tussle over sharing of chief ministerial tenure soon after results were announced.

New Delhi: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday (September 19, 2022) hit out at his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray for creating a tussle over sharing of chief ministerial tenure after 2019 assembly results were announced. Attacking former Maharashtra chief minister, Raj said that Uddhav's party fought the 2019 polls in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but created a tussle over sharing of chief ministerial tenure soon after results were announced. 

"Why did you (Uddhav Thackeray) not announce the alliance terms and conditions publicly ahead of the (2019) polls? Should people who vote for certain parties just keep watching such cheating take place? This is an insult to voters," he said.

Never seen such chaos and cheating in Maharashtra politics

The MNS leader also rued the political situation in Maharashtra over the last few years and said it was tough to understand or guess who would ally with whom to form the government.

"I have never seen such chaos and cheating in Maharashtra politics. No one knows who is with whom, who is forming the government," he said.

सन्मा. राजसाहेब ठाकरे ह्यांनी आज १९ सप्टेंबर २०२२ रोजी पत्रकारांना संबोधित केलं. त्या पत्रकार परिषदेत मांडलेल्या महत्त्वाच्या मुद्द्यांची ट्विट मालिका. 

। राज ठाकरे सोशल मीडिया टीम#मनसे #विदर्भ_दौरा pic.twitter.com/Mm6XogcZNA — Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) September 19, 2022

In June this year, senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde's rebellion, along with 40 MLAs, against the party leadership, led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Subsequently, Shinde was sworn in as the Maharashtra chief minister and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as deputy CM.

'Was money demanded from firm?': Raj Thackeray on Vedanta-Foxconn issue

Raj Thackeray also sought an inquiry into Maharashtra losing the multi-billion dollar Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor chip manufacturing project to neighbouring Gujarat and asked if any money was demanded from the joint venture firm.

He said that Maharashtra used to be the leading state in the country when it came to attracting industries but this was changing.

"It must be investigated why industries that were supposed to come to Maharashtra have now shifted to other states. Was money demanded from them," he said when queried on the Vedanta-Foxconn political slugfest.

(With agency inputs)