Former Maharashtra CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that instead of providing the state some degree of governance through the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), CM Uddhav Thackeray has been threatening the Opposition unlike any of his predecessors in the history of Maharashtra. He said the MVA has abused constitutional power to silence the dissenters, adding that the breakdown of constitutional mechanism qualified for imposing the President’s Rule. However, he clarified that the BJP would not demand the Centre’s intervention to end the MVA rule.

Fadnavis was responding to Thackeray’s statement that the Shiv Sena could also attack the wives or children of the BJP leaders who were maligning his family by making false accusations. Fadnavis said, “We don’t do it. In fact, I’m the biggest victim of such individual attacks on my family. Senior Sena leaders have said so many things against my wife that shouldn’t be said against any woman. However, one shouldn’t complain about political attacks if a particular family member is in politics,” he added.