Uddhav Thackeray Won't Answer Because He Is Scared...: Amit Shah

 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched a scathing attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for "not answering" issues related to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and ban on Popular Front of India (PFI) due to "his new vote bank."

Mr Shah claims that the vote bank of Sharad Pawar and Congress has now become Uddhav Thackeray's new vote bank.

Addressing a public meeting in Sangli, Amit Shah said, "I want to ask the chief of 'fake' Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray, you should make it clear in front of the people of Maharashtra, should CAA be implemented or not? should PFI be banned or not? Construction of Ram temple was good thing or bad thing? Removal of triple talaq was a good thing or not?... Uddhav ji won't answer this because he is scared of his new vote bank...The vote bank of Sharad Pawar and Congress has now become his vote bank."

Mr Shah said the upcoming election is between those who 'vote for jihad' and those who prioritise development.

"Today there are two camps in the country- First one is against Ram Mandir, Second - of Modi ji, of NDA... who is going to build the Ram temple. On one side, there are people who vote for jihad, On the other hand, there are people who vote for development. On the one hand, there are people who care for the welfare of their families, On the other hand, there are people working for the welfare of the country under the leadership of Modi ji," he said.

Amit Shah claimed that the previous Congress government ignored terrorism while PM Modi government retaliated against Pakistan within 10 days of the Uri and Pulwama attacks.

"In the Congress government, in the Sonia-Manmohan government... earlier, Alia, Malia, and Jamalia used to come from Pakistan almost every other day and would carry out bomb blasts and go away... no one would say anything. When Modi Ji became PM in 2014, Pakistan attacked Uri and Pulwama, but they forgot that now Manmohan Singh is not the Prime Minister, and now Modi Ji is the Prime Minister. In just 10 days, under the leadership of Modi ji, our army entered Pakistan and took revenge," he said.

The BJP has re-nominated two-term sitting MP Sanjay Patil, who will compete against Shiv Sena's wrestler Chandrahar Patil, and Vishal Patil, an independent candidate and grandson of former CM Vasantdada Patil.

The BJP has won the Sangli Lok Sabha seat in both the 2014 and 2019 elections. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats. So far, voting is done on 13 seats; polling in the remaining 11 seats along with Sangli Lok Sabha seats will be held on May 7. Counting for all seats will take place on June 4.

In 2019, BJP won 23 seats, while its ally undivided Shiv Sena won 18 seats. NCP and Congress could only win four and one seats respectively.

Shiv Sena (undivided), Congress and NCP were part of a MVA coalition government in Maharashtra from 2019-22, after which Eknath Shinde-led faction broke away from the party and formed the government with the support of BJP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)