Mumbai: In an indirect hit at former saffron ally BJP, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said acting with "lust for power" during the Covid-19 pandemic will lead to "anarchy".


Saving lives was the most important thing now, he asserted.


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Participating in a virtual interaction, CM Uddhav Thackeray said "If people who voted for me do not survive the Covid-19 pandemic, what is the use of power".


Without naming the opposition party, he added that "acting with lust for power amid Covid-19 will lead to anarchy".


Speaking at the session, he revealed that becoming the chief minister was never his goal, and his promise to his father, Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, of making a Sena worker chief minister "is yet to be fulfilled".


"I was never politically inclined. I came into politics to help my father. A pandemic after 100 years happens during my tenure as CM. I have never shied away from responsibility. I am doing what I can to the best of my ability," he said.


When asked if Shive Sena's alliance with the BJP, that ended on a bitter note after the 2019 Assembly election, could be revived again, CM Uddhav Thackeray said that there was a trust deficit in their relations after the death of BJP leaders Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde.


"The BJP is now Delhi-centric. In an alliance, there has to be openness to air differences and resolve them. My new allies (NCP and Congress) treat me with respect. The MVA is an alliance where we had differences, so we are more open now," he added.


He went on to state that the alliance with the BJP saw its "golden period" when the two parties were in opposition with the saffron ideology holding them together and there was mutual trust and respect.


Responding to another question, he said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi does call him often.


These remarks come at a time when coronavirus cases in Maharashtra are gradually going down and the state has come up with a 5-level unlock plan to open up economic activities based on positivity rate and hospitalisation.


(With Agency Inputs)