Upset with Shiv Sena's performance in local body polls, CM asks party leaders to not be 'over confident'

Uddhav Thackeray. File pic

Disappointed with the results of the recent local body polls which saw the Shiv Sena finish in fourth place, the party president and Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, advised party leaders and workers to learn from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners, who fared better.

Thackeray was talking to Shiv sainiks on the occasion of party founder the late Balasaheb Thackeray's birth anniversary on Sunday. He assured sainiks that he was fine after spine surgery. He lambasted the opposition for making an issue out of his illness.

"We say we are winning after the voting, and then we blame the defeat on gaddars (traitors in the party). How is it possible? The fact remains that we don't take elections seriously. Look at the BJP, the Congress and NCP. Their leaders take every election, however small it may be, very seriously," he said.

Thackeray reiterated the causes that led to the split with the BJP which he said wasn't an advocate of original Hindutva. "It tried to use us as a slave, but we attacked it when we realised the intention," he said, adding that the Sena could have had its PM post-Babri Hindutva wave, but his father took a friendly view of the situation. "My father told them you look after Delhi, I will look after Maharashtra," he said.

The Shiv Sena will be pitted against the BJP and MVA partners in the next big phase of local body polls, including Mumbai, Thane. Thackeray said proper hard work can help the party succeed beyond Maharashtra. "We have decided to contest polls in other states. We will win or lose," he said, asking the party workers to not bask in the glory of a win and despair in a loss. "Remember what Balasaheb told us. Be confident and earn success. But don't be over confident," he said, reminding the leaders and workers of their laidback approach.