Will back any candidate announced by Congress, NCP (SP) as CM face of MVA: Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray asked the MVA cadre to `rise above self-interest and fight for the sake of protecting Maharashtra`s pride`. File pic

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he will back any candidate announced by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) as Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) chief ministerial face.

Addressing party workers of the opposition bloc MVA in Mumbai, Thackeray said the Assembly polls are a "fight to preserve Maharashtra's self-respect".

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are likely to be held in October or November. MVA comprises the Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and Congress.

"Uddhav Thackeray will back any candidate announced by Congress and NCP (SP) as the CM face of MVA. I don't have the feeling that I am fighting for myself, I am fighting for the rights of Maharashtra," Thackeray said.

He insisted that the chief ministerial candidate must be decided first, rather than waiting for the results and deciding on the basis of each party's performance.

Thackeray asked the MVA cadres to "rise above self-interest and fight for the sake of protecting Maharashtra's pride and interest". He also urged them to be the ambassadors of the opposition alliance in the state.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for a secular civil code in the country, during his Independence Day address, Thackeray wondered if he had given up Hindutva.

On Thursday, while addressing the country from the ramparts of Red Fort, Modi said, "I would say, it is the need of the hour that India has a secular civil code. We have lived 75 years with a communal civil code. Now, we have to move towards a secular civil code. Only then would religion-based discrimination end."

He also targeted the PM over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and asked why it was not passed when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in absolute majority.

(With PTI and ANI inputs)