Shiv Sena takes dig at BJP, says Uddhav will be CM candidate

Asked if Maharashtra will see a Thackeray vs Thackeray contest in the elections, Raut said, “No. Everyone wants change in the state and only Uddhavji can lead us to that.” Earlier, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana' took a dig at Munde, Union Rural Development Minister, over his chief ministerial ambitions.

“State BJP President Devendra Fadnavis has said BJP has sent Munde on a three-month loan to Delhi after which he will lead Maharashtra.

“Munde on the other hand has said he feels the slogan coined by some in state BJP that ‘Narendra at the Centre, Devendra (Fadnavis) in the state' is good. There is a lot of talk about CM candidature in BJP circles. The question is will Narendra Modi accept this formula of loaning Munde to the Centre and then sending him back to the state,” the editorial said.

“Like Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Munde is physically in Delhi but his heart is in Maharashtra,” it quipped.

Reacting to Raut's statement, BJP leader in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde said there was no “tussle” with the party's oldest ally Shiv Sena over who would be the chief minister.

“We are only concerned about how to topple the Congress-NCP government. How the fruits of development under Modi government can reach the state. It is possible only when there is no Congress-NCP government in the state and we are in power,” he said.