Right until the eve of Maharashtra’s most hotly contested election, there was no let-up from the principal players. The Shiv Sena took its tirade against former ally, the BJP, to a new low in an interview by party chief Uddhav Thackeray to the party newspaper, Saamna , referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “chaiwalla” (tea-seller). “He has said that if a chaiwalla can be the Prime Minister, then why can’t I be the Chief Minister?” Saamna editor and party MP Sanjay Raut told the media. The interview will be published on Wednesday.
Mr. Uddhav Thackeray’s estranged cousin Raj Thackeray, who leads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, sought space in the political spotlight by sharpening his anti-migrant stance. In an exclusive interview to The Hindu , he said he would not apologise to the Election Commission which has sent him a notice charging him with violating the Model Code of Conduct in his poll rallies in Mumbai. Mr Thackeray had said that if he came to power, only local Marathis would get jobs in Maharashtra.
Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan sparked a major controversy after an interview to an English daily in which he declared that he did not act against former Congress Chief Ministers Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh in the Adarsh scam to save the party from being “decimated.” He later claimed his comments had been distorted.
