Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and Maharashtra Assembly polls next year, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray began a two-day tour of the state's Vidarbha region on Sunday. During this tour, Thackeray will interact with his party workers and boost their morale. The tour comes days after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar’s rebellion. Pawar along with 8 other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government. The former Maharashtra chief minister reached Nagpur in the morning and held discussions with the party members and supporters from Yavatmal, Washim, Amaravati, Akola and Nagpur in the Vidarbha region.
Thackeray is also set to visit Poharadevi temple which is a major religious place for the Banjara community and is spread in the Vidarbha region. The leader’s meetings are focused on sensitising them and “boosting their morale” against the recent split in the party, which “weakened” it in the state Legislative Assembly, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader told PTI earlier. These discussions are also about how he has been betrayed by the BJP and his party colleagues. The leader also told PTI that this was also a preparation for the next year's Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) cut ties with the BJP, a long-term ally, over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. Uddhav then formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Shiv Sena (then undivided), NCP and Congress.
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In June 2022, the MVA government ruling Maharashtra collapsed after a revolt led by Shinde and split Shiv Sena. Shinde later became the CM with the BJP's support. This year, on July 2, NCP's Ajit Pawar led a split in the Sharad Pawar-led party and joined the Shinde government as deputy chief minister. The other eight NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the state cabinet.