'Modi sarkar is now changed to NDA sarkar, will see how long it lasts': Uddhav Thackeray

"They (BJP) said nobody can fight against the BJP. The people of Maharashtra showed them the mirror. We are very thankful to the people of Maharashtra. This fight was to save the Constitution and democracy. Modi sarkar is now changed to NDA sarkar. How many days this sarkar will work is questionable," Thackeray said speaking at a joint press conference with his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners on Saturday.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took a dig at his former ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that the government at the Centre has been replaced from Narendra Modi government to National Democratic Alliance government, and it remains to be seen how long it will last. "They (BJP) said nobody can fight against the BJP. The people of Maharashtra showed them the mirror. We are very thankful to the people of Maharashtra. This fight was to save the Constitution and democracy. Modi sarkar is now changed to NDA sarkar. How many days this sarkar will work is questionable," Thackeray said speaking at a joint press conference with his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners on Saturday.

Continuing his attack against the BJP, Thackeray reminded them of the "400 par" slogan and their narrative of "achhe din" (good days). This came amid the poor performance of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. "BJP itself gave the slogan of 400 paar. What happened to the narrative of acche din (good days), what happened to Modi's guarantee?..." the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said.

Hitting out at Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he said, "Devendra Fadnavis told us that our government is like the three legs of a rickshaw, the condition of the BJP government at the Centre is also the same." Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar, who attended the press conference, also took a dig at the Prime Minister by thanking him for holding roadshows and rallies at places where his party coincidentally won.

"Wherever the Prime Minister's roadshow and rally took place, we won. That is why I consider it my duty to thank the Prime Minister," he said. Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, who also attended the press conference, thanked the people of Maharashtra for the MVA's good performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.

"We all have come together today to thank the people of Maharashtra and to express our gratitude to everyone. The people of Maharashtra have made the MVA candidates victorious. For the first time after the results of the Lok Sabha elections, the leaders of the INDIA bloc of Maharashtra have met today. This press conference is to thank the people." Expressing hope that this electoral performance of the MVA will reflect in the upcoming Assembly elections as well, Chavan said, "We have received a good number of votes in Maharashtra. We all have come together to save democracy. I hope that the way people voted for us in the Lok Sabha elections, we will get the same love in the assembly elections and now there will be a change of power in Maharashtra."

Both Thackeray and Pawar, whose parties were split within a gap of one year, stated that they will not take back the leaders who left their faction and joined their respective rival factions. "Absolutely not," Uddhav Thackeray said when he was asked whether he will be taking back those leaders who had left his faction.

When Sharad Pawar was asked the same question, he said, "There is no question of taking them back." Responding to whether he will be accepting new leaders into his party, Uddhav Thackeray said, "We will move forward with all those people who stayed with us, and struggled with us. If some people want to join us, we will see..."

The BJP dipped to nine seats in Maharashtra against 23 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The vote share stood at 26.18 per cent. The Congress, on the other hand, marginally improved its seat share by securing 13 seats in the state.The Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won seven and one seats respectively, taking the total tally of the NDA to 17. The BJP victory tally was much lower than its 2019 tally of 303 and the 282 seats it had won in 2014. The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong growth, winning 99 seats compared to 52 that it had won in 2019 and 44 seats in 2014. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition, and defying all predictions from exit polls. (ANI)

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