Maharashtra Election Result 2019: Aaditya Thackeray is the first of his family to contest in an election
Rising Shiv Sena star Aaditya Thackeray today thanked the people of Worli, the Mumbai constituency from where he was elected to the Maharashtra Assembly, and promised to listen to and work for the people of the south Mumbai locality. "I'm absorbing the fact I've been elected with so much love. My priority for Worli is to listen to the people and take forward the work done by Sachin Ahir-ji and Sunil Shinde-ji," Mr Thackeray told NDTV.
Aaditya Thackeray, 29, has said he wants to make the Worli constituency, one of 36 in the city and originally a fishermen's settlement, a "model of development".
Mr Thackeray, 29, is the first member of his family to contest an election. Since his grandfather Bal Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena in 1966, no one from the Thackeray clan had ever contested elections. The young Thackeray made a winning debut, recording 88,962 votes to beat the Congress's Suresh Mane to the Worli constituency by more than 65,000 votes.
Speaking after the results, he played down talk of him being the first Thackeray in electoral politics, insisting that all members of the Shiv Sena were considered family.
"The fact is that I'm not really the first Thackeray to contest an election... every Shiv Sena leader who has contested is like family. We've been emotionally involved in every election till now... the point is to start working through the legislative assembly," he told NDTV, adding that the time had come for "less of reactions and more of work".
Maharashtra Assembly Elections Result: Aaditya Thackeray emerged victorious from the Worli constituency in Mumbai
Mr Thackeray has emerged as the affable face of the Shiv Sena, a party that, before his debut, was known mostly for its radical, hard line views and its annual Valentine's Day protests. But while remaining committed to the core ideology of Hindutva and interests of 'marathi manhood', Mr Thackeray has made the party more inclusive and acceptable to larger groups.
The young Mr Thackeray has been widely seen as a future Chief Minister of the state. Although the BJP has made it clear Devendra Fadnavis will continue as Chief Minister, the Sena has said it wants the top post for Aaditya Thackeray.
When asked for his response to calls for him to assume a ministerial role, be that Deputy Chief Minister or as a member of the cabinet, Mr Thackeray would only say: "Whatever happens... I won't stop writing blogs for NDTV".
The Shiv Sena has turned in a strong performance in Maharashtra Assembly polls, winning 56 seats on its own and 161 with its ally the BJP. The Sena contested 126 seats to the BJP's 150 seats.
On the back of that performance, party chief Uddhav Thackeray, who is Aaditya Thackeray's father, has demanded the BJP honour the 50:50 agreement made during his meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this year.