Sena declares Uddhav as CM candidate

Mumbai, Jun 21: The Shiv Sena on Thursday anointed Uddhav Thackeray as the saffron combine's CM pick. The Sena president later told journalists he had to honour Shiv Sainiks' collective wish.

"The CM issue can be decided by discussions (with the BJP). We are not in a hurry," Thackeray said, indicating, for the first time, that he didn't intend to toe the hard line on the issue.

Senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde said the CM issue will be decided by leaders of the Mahayuti, or grand (Sena-BJP) alliance.

Earlier, Aditya Thackeray, Uddhav's son and Yuva Sena president, cleared the decks for an impromptu endorsement of his father's CM candidature from Shiv Sainiks.

Addressing a party congregation at a Bandra auditorium, Aditya sought a voice vote on the issue. To his question as to who would be the CM of Maharashtra after the October assembly election, the party representatives replied, "Uddhav Thackeray", in unison.

"This is the Sena way of seeking ratification from party workers on a crucial policy issue," a senior party leader told TOI on the sidelines of the conclave. "Uddhavji was elected as the Sena's executive president in 2002 in a similar manner."

Sanjay Raut, MP and executive editor of party mouthpiece Saamna, said there should be no glitches in Uddhav becoming CM after the assembly elections. "Just as the Sena has wholeheartedly accepted Narendra Modi as PM, the BJP should accept Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra's CM," said Raut.

Other allies in the saffron combine, too, will back Thackeray as chief minister, he said.

Later, Thackeray unveiled a development plan with an assurance to accelerate Maharashtra's infrastructure projects, and underscored the need to closely monitor irrigation projects in the state to check cost and time overruns. The party will work out a comprehensive policy to safeguard the strategic interests of the agrarian community, he said.

In an audio-visual presentation, Uddhav said that if elected to office in Maharashtra, the Sena would undertake the Mumbai coastal road project; there will be an international theme park on the Mahalaxmi Race Course; also, the stringent Coastal Regulation Zone Act would be looked into to allow development of the city's 'koliwadas'.

Referring to the Campa Cola incident, Thackeray said measures would be initiated to ensure that such cases are not repeated and that residents are not made to suffer because of the civic administration's or developer's folly.