"Congress's Overconfidence Cost Us": Team Thackeray On Maharashtra Rout

The Congress's "overconfidence" in Maharashtra and its "attitude" during seat-sharing talks hurt Maha Vikas Aghadi's prospects, a senior leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) has said a week after the Opposition bloc was routed in the state polls. The BJP-led Mahayuti scored a thumping victory in the election, winning 230 seats in the 288-member Assembly.

Ambadas Danve, Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi should have projected Uddhav Thackeray as its Chief Minister face.

"After the Lok Sabha election results, the Congress was overconfident in Maharashtra like in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. This was reflected in the results. Its attitude during seat-sharing negotiations hurt us. Uddhav ji should have been projected as the Chief Minister face. Not doing so harmed our prospects. The results would have been different if this was done," Mr Danve told the media.

In a subtle dig at the Congress, he said, "They were getting ready with suit and tie even before the results."

The Congress won 13 seats in the Lok Sabha election months ago, the highest among Maha Vikas Aghadi allies. Buoyed by the stellar show, the Nana Patole-led state Congress unit bargained hard during the seat-sharing talks ahead of the state polls, leading to friction in the alliance. Eventually, it contested 103 seats but won only 16. The Sena (UBT), which contested 89 seats, managed to win 20 seats. The third ally, Sharad Pawar's NCP, contested 87 seats and won 10.

Mr Danve said some of the candidates of Sena (UBT) had pointed to the organisational aspect, but did not name any party. He said Sena (UBT) will prepare to build its strength to the point where it can contest all 288 seats in the state.

On his former party colleague and former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose rebellion split the Shiv Sena, Mr Danve said the BJP has "many Shindes". "The BJP has many Shindes in several states. The BJP uses and throws them away," he said.

The remarks come amid talks within the Mahayuti alliance on who will be the next Chief Minister. The BJP has scored the highest among NDA allies and is learned to have pushed for the Chief Minister post. After days of posturing by some Sena leaders, Mr Shinde yesterday stepped back and said he would accept Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision on the Chief Minister post.