Shiv Sena takes dig at Munde, says Uddhav Thackeray will be CM nominee

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will be its nominee for Maharashtra chief ministers post the party said today even as it attacked ally BJPs senior leader Gopinath Munde over his chief ministerial ambitions We have always had this understanding with BJP that the prime minister will be from the BJP and the chief minister in the state will be from Shiv Sena and all our cadre everyone wants Uddhavji to be chief minister if our grand alliance comes to power Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut said Uddhavji has himself never said he wants to be chief minister but it is our wish that he leads us in the coming elections he saidUddhav ThackerayThe development comes two days after Uddhavs estranged cousin and MNS leader Raj Thackeray announced he would contest elections and would become chief minister if his party got the mandate Nobody from the Thackeray clan has so far contested an election We havent spoken to the BJP yet on CM candidature or seatsharing but there is no conflict they are our friends Raut said On the plethora of candidates for the CMs chair in the state including NCP leader Ajit Pawar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray he said Ajit Pawar has been given a fitting reply by people of Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha polls As for others no one can be compared to Uddhavji Asked if Maharashtra will see a Thackeray vs Thackeray contest in the elections Raut said No Everyone wants change in the state and only Uddhavji can lead us to that Earlier an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana took a dig at Munde Union Rural Development Minister over his chief ministerial ambitions State BJP President Devendra Fadnavis has said BJP has sent Munde on a threemonth loan to Delhi after which he will lead Maharashtra Munde on the other hand has said he feels the slogan coined by some in state BJP that Narendra at the Centre Devendra Fadnavis in the state is good There is a lot of talk about CM candidature in BJP circles The question is will Narendra Modi accept this formula of loaning Munde to the Centre and then sending him back to the state the editorial said Like Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar Munde is physically in Delhi but his heart is in Maharashtra it quipped Reacting to Rauts statement BJP leader in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde said there was no tussle with the partys oldest ally Shiv Sena over who would be the chief minister We are only concerned about how to topple the CongressNCP government How the fruits of development under Modi government can reach the state It is possible only when there is no CongressNCP government in the state and we are in power he saidFadnavis meanwhile has sidestepped the issue by commenting that the chief minister will be decided after the electionsNDA ally Republican Party of India chief Ramdas Athawale had a different but diplomatic take on the issue The CM will be from the alliance He would be from the party which gets maximum number of legislators electedLeader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Vinod Tawde of the BJP denied any tussle over the CM nominee and said that the main issue was how to topple the ruling CongressNationalist Congress Party government in the stateWith barely four months left for the state assembly elections there is intense competition among various political parties to project their CM candidate in advance on the lines of the BJP at the national level which had projected Narendra Modi as PM candidate last year