Amid election fever in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission (EC). During a press conference in Mumbai, Thackeray alleged that the country is no longer experiencing democracy but “mobocracy,” where, along with vote theft, candidates are also being “stolen.”
Former CM Uddhav Thackeray, while targeting the BJP alliance, said, “We catch them red-handed while stealing votes, but now they have started stealing the candidates themselves. This is the biggest threat to democracy.”
Thackeray was referring to the ruling party’s efforts to woo opposition candidates. Indeed, even before the elections in Maharashtra’s 29 municipal corporations, the ruling Mahayuti alliance has already won 68 seats. On the last day of withdrawal of nominations, BJP candidates were elected unopposed in 44 seats, while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena won 22 seats and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP won two.
Taking a dig at PM Modi, Uddhav Thackeray said, “Don’t compare PM Modi with me. He built Mount Kailash, brought Ganga to earth, and was also present at the churning of the ocean! But we are still waiting for the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which Modi worshipped in the Arabian Sea years ago.”
