Uddhav threatens to withdraw support from Maharashtra govt

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s diatribe against alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday turned vitriolic with the former threatening to withdraw support to Devendra Fadnavis government.

Shiv Sena stepped up its aggressive stance with Thackeray threatening to pull out of NDA if BJP “continues with its arrogance” even as one of his party ministers in Maharashtra government offered to quit, but it was dismissed as “drama” by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Sena minister Eknath Shinde, who holds Public Undertaking portfolio, made the offer to resign at a rally in Kalyan where the civic polls are going to be held on Sunday.

Sena and BJP have decided to go alone in these polls and both have been at loggerheads for more than a year after they split in 2014 Assembly elections but grudgingly came together to stake claim for power in Maharashtra.

Shinde offered his resignation as minister to Uddhav at the rally stage which Uddhav promptly rejected and then went onto an offensive against BJP. “Even Indira Gandhi was overthrown by the people. What is your aukaat (status)?,” Thackeray asked at the rally.

He targeted the BJP over the skyrocketing prices of pulses and demanded that they be lowered before Diwali. “You cannot use the government administration as your domestic servant, we will not tolerate this,” he said. “If this government continued to act in an arrogant manner, we will seek resignations from all,” Uddhav further added.