This Article is From Oct 15, 2014

'If a Chaiwala Can Become PM, Why Can't I be Chief Minister?': Uddhav Thackeray

'If a Chaiwala Can Become PM, Why Can't I be Chief Minister?': Uddhav Thackeray

FILE photo: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai: In his most direct pitch yet for the Chief Minister's post in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has questioned - "If a chaiwala (tea-seller) can become prime minister, why can't I become Chief Minister?"

Mr Thackeray said this in an interview to his party's mouthpiece Saamna, published on Wednesday, on a day Maharashtra is voting for a new government.

"It is true that the Thackerays have never fought elections. But we have never backed out from responsibilities. If a common man like (Narendra) Modi, who started off as a chaiwala (tea-seller) goes on to become the PM, I can become Chief Minister as well," Mr Thackeray said.

Mr Modi's campaign for the country's top post was built around his modest beginnings as a young boy who sold tea on trains.

This is not the first time the 54-year-old Sena leader has declared his chief ministerial ambitions.

The BJP is contesting the polls alone after ending its 25-year alliance with the Sena over seat-sharing. The party with more seats would lay claim to the chief minister's post, and the Sena wanted it for Uddhav Thackeray.

The alliance had swept the national election in May, winning 42 of the state's 48 seats, and their break-up baffled many. The former allies have since traded allegations and jibes, each sharper than the last.

"For 25 years, we have been together, we have seen victories and routs. When the alliance collapsed, I felt deeply pained, but I did not succumb," Mr Thackeray said in the interview.

State BJP leaders said they were aware of Mr Thackeray's secret ambitions, which was why their former partner had refused to budge over seat-sharing.

The BJP has strategically avoided projecting anybody as a chief ministerial candidate for Maharashtra, and crafted its campaign around PM Narendra Modi and his development pitch, hoping it will pay off like it did in the national election.
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