Elections 2019: Raj Thackeray has been asking party workers to vote against the ruling BJP
Sharad Pawar's party - the Nationalist Congress Party or NCP - has dared the government to carry out raids at the home of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who has been asking party workers to vote against the ruling BJP.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik's remarks came after the Maharashtra BJP sought to know which Lok Sabha candidate would incur expenses of the poll rallies of Raj Thackeray, whose party has not fielded any candidate for the Lok Sabha polls.
Mr Thackeray, who supported the BJP in the 2014 polls, has already addressed a few public meetings in Nanded, Solapur and Kolhapur and is expected to hold rallies in Satara and Baramati, where the NCP has fielded its sitting MPs Udayanraje Bhosale and Supriya Sule, respectively.
Raj Thackeray's move asking his party workers to vote against the BJP this time, is likely to help the electoral cause of the opposition Congress and NCP.
"The government should conduct raids at Raj Thackeray's residence if it has the guts," Mr Malik told reporters on Tuesday.
"Raj Thackeray backed the BJP in the last (Lok Sabha) elections. But since he is addressing rallies opposing (Narendra) Modi now, the details of expenses of his rallies are being sought," he claimed.
The BJP on Saturday wrote to state Chief Electoral Officer or CEO seeking to know which Lok Sabha candidate would incur the cost of Raj Thackeray's ongoing political rallies.
In a letter addressed to CEO Ashwani Kumar, senior BJP minister Vinod Tawde said Raj Thackeray has been holding political rallies across the state, despite the MNS not contesting a single seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.