Raj Thackeray accused Narendra Modi of focussing too much on his state and also said there is no need for ‘AAP’ in Maharashtra
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- Category: Maharashtra Political News
- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 20:53
Modi should've quit as CM when BJP made him PM nominee and no need for AAP in Maharashtra says Raj Thackeray:
Raj Thackeray on Thursday accused BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi of focussing too much on his state despite being projected for the country’s top job.
He also ruled out any need for the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state. “There is no need for AAP in Maharashtra, we are the baap.”
Modi should have resigned from the chief minister’s post the day he was declared as the prime ministerial candidate, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief said.
Thackeray pointed out that the BJP’s Hindutva mascot should have a national outlook and ditch regional parochialism and said the MNS would contest the polls on its own merit.
The defeat of the Congress in New Delhi showed that people would vote against established, mainstream political players if their expectations are not fulfilled.
Incidentally, Thackeray, whose party started an anti-outsider campaign against North Indian migrants in 2008, has been similarly accused of parochialism by his critics.
BJP leaders claim that Modi’s projection on the national stage and his ‘Moditva’ plank consisting of a combination of Hindutva and development, will help sway MNS voters, largely consisting of youth and first-time voters. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the defeat of the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in nine seats was attributed to the presence of the MNS.
There were speculations that Thackeray, who toured Gujarat a few years ago and appreciated Modi’s administrative acumen, may choose to join hands with the Shiv Sena and the BJP before the Lok Sabha polls to prevent the fragmentation of the anti-Congress-NCP votes.
“I respect him for the work done in Gujarat,” said Thackeray, who was in Nashik for a meeting of the party’s elected representatives and office-bearers to chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
“On the day he was declared as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi should have resigned as the chief minister of Gujarat,” he said. Despite joining national politics, Modi remained centred around Gujarat, Thackeray said. Source-'dnaindia'
Raj Thackeray commands a big following in Mumbai, Konkan and Western Maharashtrra. He is also trying to make inroads into Marathwada and Vidarbha.
A clever politician and a superb organiser, Raj Thackeray knows how to play his cards carefully. According to the people who know him he maintains a good rapport with both the Congress and the NCP.
Even though Raj Thackeray is not saying anything on a possible alliance or some kind of support to the BJP-SS or the Congress - NCP combine, analysts feel that he will go alone. The MNS is also maintaining that it will not join any alliance.
Modi's loss would be Congress's gain in Maharashtra.News By-"ibnlive"