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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Thursday criticised the Congress over its "overconfidence" which, he said, negatively impacted the Maha Vikas Aghadi's performance in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Danve said that after the Lok Sabha polls, Congress was overconfident in every place it contested. "It is true that Congress was overconfident. After the Lok Sabha elections, wherever elections were held--be it Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, or Maharashtra--this overconfidence was evident. Rahul Gandhi and Congress worked hard during the Lok Sabha elections, and the INDIA bloc also saw results, but they were overconfident," he said. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also pointed out that the Maha Vikas Aghadi remained stuck in seat-sharing talks until the last day. "We remained stuck in seat-sharing discussions until the very last day, whereas those days should have been spent engaging with the public. Some seats should have been given to Shiv Sena, but Congress was simply unwilling to agree. Congress behaved as if the Chief Minister's oath-taking ceremony was all that mattered to them," Ambadas Danve said. Danve further stressed that if Uddhav Thackeray's name had been projected as the Chief Minister, then the result would have been different. "Uddhav Ji's name should have been put forward for the Chief Minister's position. If he had been projected as the CM candidate from the beginning, it could have brought a significant change in the results," he said. He also pointed out that the Sambhajinagar seat, where Shiv Sena has been working for the past five years, was given to Congress and they should have won it. "After the Lok Sabha elections, Congress members were already preparing to wear suits and ties, thinking about which departments they would get. They weren't even discussing the election results," Danve said. Further, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said that they will now work to strengthen their party in all the 288 assembly seats of Maharashtra. "Shiv Sena members have demanded that we should strengthen the party in all the 288 seats, and preparations for this should start immediately. The organisation will be strengthened across all 288 seats. Shiv Sena has never compromised on Hindutva and never will. Shiv Sena does not need to be taught Hindutva by anyone. However, we believe that Hindutva does not mean disrespecting other parties," he said. The BJP emerged as the largest party with 132 seats in the 280-member Maharashtra Assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major defeat in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, secured just 20 seats, Congress won 16, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) managed only 10. (ANI)
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