Shiv Sena (UBT) blames Congress for MVA's loss in Maharashtra polls, says its ally was 'overconfident'

Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Ambadas Danve on Thursday criticised the Congress for its overconfidence which he claimed adversely affected the Maha Vikas Aghadis MVA performance in the Maharashtra pollsAccording to news agency ANI while speaking at a press conference in Mumbai Danve said that Congress exhibited overconfidence after the Lok Sabha Elections which was evident in every region where it contestedIt is true that Congress was overconfident After the Lok Sabha elections wherever elections were held mdash be it in Haryana Jammu and Kashmir or Maharashtra mdashthis overconfidence was apparent Rahul Gandhi and Congress worked hard during the Lok Sabha elections and the INDIA Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance bloc saw some success but they were overconfident he saidAccording to ANI Danve also pointed out that MVA had been bogged down by seatsharing negotiations until the very last day instead of engaging with the publicWe remained stuck in seatsharing discussions until the very last day whereas those days should have been spent engaging with the public Some seats should have been allocated to Shiv Sena but Congress was simply unwilling to agree Congress behaved as if the Chief Ministers oathtaking ceremony was all that mattered to them Danve saidHe further emphasised that had his party President Uddhav Thackerayrsquos name been projected as the Chief Minister the outcome could have been differentUddhav Jis name should have been put forward for the Chief Ministers CM position If he had been projected as the CM candidate from the beginning it could have brought a significant change in the results he saidAccording to ANI Danve also highlighted the case of the Sambhajinagar seat where Shiv Sena had been active for the past five years but it was instead handed to Congress which should have won itAfter the Lok Sabha elections Congress members were already preparing to wear suits and ties thinking about which departments they would get They werent even discussing the election results Danve remarkedThe Shiv Sena UBT leader stated that they would now focus on strengthening their party in all 288 assembly seats across MaharashtraShiv 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 saidThe Bharatiya Janata Party BJP emerged as the largest party with 132 seats in the 288member Maharashtra Assembly while its allies mdash Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP led by Ajit Pawar mdash secured 57 and 41 seats respectivelyMVA suffered a significant defeat in the Maharashtra polls Shiv Sena UBT won only 20 seats while Congress secured 16 and NCP Sharadchandra Pawar managed 10With ANI inputs