Uddhav pitches for third front of regional parties

Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray on Thursday said he was extremely proud of the fact that his party had denied the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) absolute majority in the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls.

In an interview to The Hindu, Mr. Thackeray, who was confident of a Sena victory in the Mumbai civic polls, was upfront about his ambition to unite all regional parties for a third front against the BJP.

In a break with his image of a patient and calm leader of an aggressive party, Mr. Thackeray is going all out in his attacks on the present BJP leadership, both in Delhi and in the State.

Unlike his past image of a patient and calm leader of an aggressive party, Mr Thackeray is going all out in his verbal attacks on the present BJP leadership, both in Delhi and in the State. “I could not believe that a person like Devendra [Fadnavis, Maharashtra Chief Minister] would stoop so low and lie for the sake of politics. He has turned into a liar to save his post,” said Mr Thackeray, ridiculing the BJP for projecting the Congress’ achievements such as the Metro, as their own.

The calculated move of snapping electoral ties with the BJP, according to Mr Thackeray, will not only earn him the majority, but even decide the future course of State politics. “Wait till the results,” he said, when asked whether his party was all set to withdraw support to the BJP government. Hurt over the BJP’s sudden decision of going it alone in the 2014 Assembly elections, Mr Thackeray said he missed the thought and vision of leaders like Atalbihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and late Pramod Mahajan.

The Sena is all set to debut on the national scene in big manner. “A third front of regional parties is the need of hour. We need to decide on a Common Minimum Programme to come together and counter the arrogance of present rulers,” he said.