A file photo of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray’s open offer to senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nitin Gadkari to leave the BJP and contest as a candidate from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) met with derision from the saffron party.
Mr. Uddhav Thackeray, speaking at a rally in Latur, had again picked on the BJP for reportedly ‘excluding’ Mr. Gadkari from its first list of 195 candidates while announcing the name of former Maharashtra Minister Kripashankar Singh, accused of graft charges, for the Jaunpur seat.
Exhorting Mr. Gadkari to resign from the BJP instead of “bowing before Delhi”, Mr. Thackeray said he would get the Union Minister elected as a MVA candidate in the coming General Election.
Laughing off Mr. Thackeray’s remarks, Deputy CM and Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis disparaged the Sena (UBT) chief’s ‘offer’ to Mr. Gadkari as being akin to “a man in the street offering someone the post of the US President”.
“Nitin Gadkari is a tall leader of our party. He contests from Nagpur. When the first list of candidates [of BJP] was released, seat-sharing discussions among the Mahayuti partners [BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP] were not complete… Gadkari ji’s name would come up first [in the candidates’ list] when the list for Maharashtra is declared,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
He further said, “Uddhav Thackeray’s own party is in shambles. The chief of such a party giving offer to a national-level leader like Gadkari ji is akin to a small-time person offering someone the post of US President. He should take care not to turn himself into a laughing stock.”
Mr. Thackeray is holding a series of rallies in Latur and Dharashiv districts in the Marathwada region.
Earlier, responding to Union Minister Amit Shah’s criticism of himself, Mr. Thackeray said that while the Home Minister visited Maharashtra several times, he avoided travelling to strife-torn regions.
“Why didn’t he visit Manipur when it was burning? He hesitated to visit Arunachal Pradesh, which is facing aggression from China. He only visits Maharashtra to intimidate opponents,” Mr. Thackeray had said during a rally in Maharashtra’s Ausa on Thursday.