Mumbai. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday met his party’s winning candidates, saying that the Lok Sabha election results have shown that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can be defeated. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Thackeray met Shiv Sena (UBT) winning candidates Rajabhau Prakash Waze (Nashik seat) and Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East seat) at his residence here on Wednesday, a day after the election results were announced.
Thackeray said, “The elections have shown that the BJP can be defeated. This illusion (that it cannot be defeated) has been broken.” Thackeray met his party’s winning candidate from Mumbai South seat Arvind Sawant and winner from Mumbai South Central seat Anil Desai on Tuesday. In the election for 543 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP has won 240 seats and is short of the majority figure. The BJP is ready to form the government with its allies. Shiv Sena (UBT) has won nine seats in the Lok Sabha. All the newly elected leaders of the party from outside Mumbai are likely to meet Thackeray on Wednesday.
Chandrababu and Nitish will have to decide whether they want to join hands with a ‘dictator’ or not: Raut
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar will have to decide whether they want to join hands with a “dictator” or not. The support of Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu is crucial for the formation of the next government.
Speaking to reporters, Raut said his party would not oppose Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if he decided to lead the opposition coalition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INI) government and become the face of the prime ministerial candidate.
Leaders of the opposition alliance ‘India’ will meet in New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the future strategy. Raut also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should accept that he has suffered a moral defeat as his party did not get a majority to form the government and the Modi brand is now over.
Raut said, “Chandrababu and Nitish Kumar will have to decide whether they want to go with a ‘dictator’ and work in a democratic system. I don’t think they will go with a dictator.” He claimed, “Modi ji is not forming the government for the third time.” According to the results of the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got 240 seats, which is 32 seats short of an absolute majority. Key allies N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) won 16 and 12 seats respectively in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. With the support of these two, and other alliance partners, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has crossed the majority mark.