BJP challenged by Shiv Sena; Uddhav Thackeray says 'Main Chatukarita Nahi Karunga'

Amid the ongoing tiff between Bharatiya Janata Party and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Sena chief on Sunday gave an interview to the party mouthpiece 'Saamna', launching a frontal attack on BJP. In the interview, Uddhav assured the people that he is 'fighting the for the dreams of a common man and not for that of Prime Minister Modi's'. He further said that he won't let anyone shoot from the Shiv Sena's shoulders.

The most cantankerous member of the BJP-led NDA coalition, Shiv Sena had already miffed the BPJ by staying away from no-confidence proceedings on Friday. Later, Sena also applauded Congress President Rahul Gandhi for hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha.

With this, the war of words has intensified between BJP and Shiv Sena. Thackeray's statement comes a day after BJP president Amit Shah asked the Maharashtra functionaries of the party to prepare for contesting elections alone without any alliance with Shiv Sena. According to the report, Shah clearly told his party workers in the state that there would be no alliance with the Shiv Sena for the upcoming 2019 general elections.

Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Sunday announced that a three-part interview of Uddhav would be published and also aired on saamna.com from Monday. It had also claimed that the interview would generate "one hundred headlines".

The Sena shares power with the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra but has been restive for a long time. As per the report, the BJP feels the ally wants to pressure it into a deal that would allow the Sena to play the senior role in Maharashtra despite having fewer seats.