Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said he would speak with his cousin Raj directly and the latter could also do it if they were to hold a discussion over certain issues, including upcoming municipal elections and matters concerning the Marathi language.
Replying to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut during Saamana interview, Uddhav said he could meet Raj without keeping the meeting secret like most politicians do. "We are not the kind of people who meet behind closed doors. We are from the Thackeray brand…we meet openly, in front of everyone," he said.
MVA to fight local body polls in coalition?
On contesting the upcoming local body elections under the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, Uddhav said this decision rested with each individual party and the Congress has indicated that local leadership will decide on the issue. "That's fine..if that’s how they want to proceed, we’ll also act accordingly," Uddhav said.
Uddhav admitted to have made mistakes during seat allocation among MVA allies for the assembly election in Maharashtra. He said there was no point in coming together if the same mistakes are repeated. "We were united during the Lok Sabha elections, but in the assembly elections, our selfishness came to the fore and we were defeated," he said. However, he refused to blame any party for the defeat.
Uddhav rebukes EVM voting
The former Maharashtra CM also tore into the practice of using EVMs for the polling, advocating that ballot papers be introduced.
"Why were EVMs introduced? To save time for counting votes. If voting was held in Maharashtra on May 1 and in Bihar on May 30, then the time in between has passed, right? If it takes four days more for counting of votes, what will happen? In America and Europe, voting is done on ballot papers. Are those countries more backward than us? PM Modi himself has also spoken against EVMs. BJP members should listen to it once," he said.
Uddhav-Raj bonhomie at Marathi Vijay Rally
Notably, Uddhav and Raj shared stage during Marathi Vijay Rally after 20 years amid speculation of union between the two estranged cousins. The family members of the two leaders also interacted with each other during the rally.
During this, Raj Thackeray addressed first and said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis did something which even Bal Thackeray failed to do (talking about him sharing the stage with Uddhav).
