On Wednesday, August 30, addressing a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Mumbai, which is also the venue for the third alliance meeting of the I.N.D.I.A bloc to be held over two days on August 31 and September 1, Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief, Uddhav Thackeray, said that the Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc has several choices to project as the prime ministerial candidate, while the BJP has only one.
Responding to a question, he said, ‘The question about choice for the prime minister’s post should be asked to the BJP, which has only one choice that we have seen for the last nine years. INDIA alliance has several choices for the PM post. What choices does the BJP have?’
Taking a jibe at the Centre for reducing the prices of LPG per cylinder on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Thackeray commented, ‘Was there no Raksha Bandhan in the last nine years? As I.N.D.I.A progresses, the LPG cylinders will be given for free. No matter what they do, people are smart and understand everything.’
Replying to a question on the Niti Aayog’s masterplan for the economic transformation of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Thackeray said that his party would oppose any such move of the central government’s intervention.
Further, on the topic of the Opposition alliance appointing a convenor, the former Maharashtra Chief Minister expressed, ‘Let us wait for the meeting and deliberations to take place. Does anyone know who the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convenor is?’
