"With Us, He Was Getting So Many Seats...": BJP's Dig At Uddhav Thackeray

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra President Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday took a dig at Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray and said that the Congress has compelled him on seat sharing and he was getting so many seats to contest when he was with the BJP but now is not even getting 100 seats.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Bawankule said that the BJP has always respected Matoshri (Uddhav Thackeray's home) and its legacy.

"Congress has compelled Uddhav Thackeray in seat sharing. With us, they were getting so many seats but now they aren't even getting 100 seats to contest. We always respected Matoshri and its legacy. But now we see that on seats being contested by Shivsena (UBT), Congress has given their candidates as rebels," he said.

"We are not in a number game. That is why we exchanged our candidates on multiple seats based on winnability criteria," Mr Bawankule added.

Sharpening his attacks on Congress, the Maharashtra BJP chief said that Congress always does Muslim vote bank politics.

"Congress is the party which does Muslim vote bank party and they ditched them always. We are trying to bring the Muslim community with us," Chandrashekhar Bawankule said.

"Wherever BJP government is in place all the welfare schemes for women and poor are continued but Congress has stopped their scheme in states ruled by them. They are also saying that post-election they will discontinue the Ladki Bahin scheme. As party president, I am assuring that this will be continued for a full five years in the next term," he added.

The BJP is in alliance with NCP (Ajit Pawar), and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), called the Mahayuti alliance. The other major alliance for the state's assembly election is the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising of Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.

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