Uddhav starts 2-day Vidarbha tour to boost morale of Sena (UBT) workers before polls

According to a party leader, Uddhav Thackeray, the chief of Shiv Sena (UBT), started a two-day visit to Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region on Sunday (July 9). The purpose of his tour is to engage with party workers, uplift their morale, and provide support in preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections scheduled for next year.

Thackeray’s tour comes a week after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.

The former Maharashtra chief minister reached Nagpur in the morning and he will hold discussions with the party cadre and supporters from Yavatmal, Washim, Amaravati, Akola and Nagpur in the Vidarbha region.

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After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Thackeray snapped ties with long-term ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

He then formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Shiv Sena (then undivided), NCP and Congress.

A revolt led by Shinde resulted in the collapse of the MVA government in June 2022 and a split in the Shiv Sena. Shinde later became the CM with the BJP’s support.

On July 2 this year, NCP’s Ajit Pawar led a split in the Sharad Pawar-led party and joined the Shinde government as deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the state cabinet.

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“Thackeray will pay a visit to Poharadevi temple, a key religious place of the Banjara community that is widely spread in the Vidarbha region,” a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.

His meetings with party workers will be more about sensitising them and boosting their morale, against the backdrop of the split in the party which “weakened” it in the state Legislative Assembly, he said.

His interactions will also be about how he has been betrayed by the BJP and his party colleagues. It is a preparation for the next year’s Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, the leader said.

(With agency inputs)