Days before the civic body goes to polls,Shiv Senas executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the newly formed Congress-NCP alliance and the rival Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are no threat to the ruling Shiv Sena. There are so many fights within the Congress-NCP. They are all worthless and coming together of such worthless people will only increase our chances of victory, said Uddhav Thackeray. Speaking at a press meet on Wednesday,Thackeray also said that there is no scope for the Marathi vote bank to be divided between the MNS and the Shiv Sena. These voters favour the saffron and we are the saffron. Why will they vote for anyone else? he said. On the issue of Marathi votebank,he once again said that the party does not differentiate between Marathi and non-Marathi voters. We look at everyone as Mumbaikars. And it will be these people who will vote for us. While maintaining that the Sena-led BMC provides services to everyone whether they are Maharashtrians or not,he said,What has the Congress or Samajwadi Party done for these non-Marathi people. It is the BMC which serves them. Responding to Raj Thackerays comments about his plans to hold a rally outside Sena Bhavan after MNS was denied permission to hold it at Shivaji Park,Uddhav said this shows he still needs Senas support. Taking a dig at his cousin,he said,Raj keeps referring to the development in other states. Why does he have to go out of the city to see that development is happening. He just has to look out of his house to see signs of it. Choosing not to comment on political leaders such as Nitesh Rane and Namdeo Dhasal on their actions and statements,Uddhav said the quality of politics has deteriorated over the past few years. Politics in Maharashtra was a cultured affair,but now parties and leaders are becoming personal and there is a lot of mud-slinging in politics. Also there is so much of violence amidst parties. Uddhav also objected to the practice of chief ministers campaigning for their party during the elections. The chief minister is a representative of a state and not just a party. How can he go to other states and campaign for a specific party?
