Muslims Voted For Uddhav As They Think He Has Forsaken 'Hindutva': Maharashtra Minister Deepak Kesarkar

Deepak Kesarkar said that, since results were declared, Shiv Sena (UBT) had been painting a different picture in Maharashtra, that Marathi voters were not supporting the Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar has lashed out at the party's Uddhav Thackeray-led faction after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), of which the latter is a part, scored a majority in the state in the Lok Sabha elections. Kesarkar said "fatwas" had helped the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) win seats in Mumbai.

According to him, Muslim voters were convinced that Uddhav Thackeray had "forsaken" the Hindutva ideology of party founder Bal Thackeray, and that is why they came together to support the Shiv Sena (UBT), PTI reported. 

If the minority vote were deducted, he said, every Shiv Sena (UBT) “candidate would have been defeated by over 1-1.5 lakh votes". 

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has won seven of the 15 parliamentary seats it contested in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, of the six Lok Sabha seats in the Mumbai region, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) won three, while the Congress, the BJP and the Shiv Sena got one each. The opposition MVA, comprising the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), won 30 of the state's 48 seats, while the BJP-led NDA fell short of its 45-plus target, bagging 17 seats.

Kesarkar claimed that, over the past two days since the results were declared, the Shiv Sena (UBT) had been painting a different picture in Maharashtra, that Marathi voters were not supporting the Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena secured the support of both Mumbaikars and Marathi voters, he claimed.

Kesarkar also alleged that "a conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan to undermine Prime Minister Narendra Modi".

"Two ministers in Pakistan advocated for Modi's defeat and, regrettably, some individuals here paid heed to their calls," he claimed, as reported by PTI. 

Kesarkar also said Dalits had been misled by the Opposition by falsely claiming that the Constitution would be changed.

He added that the Maratha reservation movement sparked debates on the Maratha versus OBC dynamics, which influenced the election outcomes in certain areas. He said this led to the defeat of key leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, warranting further analysis. 

The Mahayuti coalition won only one seat in the Marathwada region, the centre of the Maratha agitation. Mahayuti partners included Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).