Uddhav Thackeray turns down AIMIM’s alliance offer, calls it 'BJP conspiracy to defame Shiv Sena'

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray turned down AIMIM’s offer for an alliance and called it a “conspiracy” by the BJP to defame Shiv Sena,

Asserting that Shiv Sena is a "Hindutvavadi" party, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday rejected AIMIM's offer for an alliance calling it a "conspiracy" by the opposition BJP to defame the Sena, which heads the Maha Vikas Aghahdi (MVA) government.

Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena, virtually addressed a meeting of the party MPs and office-bearers here wherein he lashed out at BJP, the former ally of Sena, on Hindutva and other issues.

“Who has sought an alliance with the AIMIM? This is a game plan and conspiracy of the BJP. The AIMIM and the BJP have a tacit understanding. The BJP has ordered the AIMIM to defame the Shiv Sena, to raise questions on Shiv Sena's Hindutva. Accordingly, the AIMIM leaders are making the offer of alliance,” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut told reporters quoting Thackeray.

On Saturday, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Imtiaz Jaleel caused a stir stating that his party can ally with the Shiv Sena-led MVA to prevent the BJP from coming to power, evoking sharp reactions from Sena.

ALSO READ: Maharashtra govt appointed men with links to Dawood Ibrahim to the Waqf Board, claims Devendra Fadnavis

The NCP and Congress, the other two partners in the MVA, had said the AIMIM must prove that it was a "like-minded" party and not the "BJP's B-team".

Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, said the Sena will launch 'Shiv Sampark Mohim', a mass outreach programme, on March 22 in 19 districts across Vidarbha and Marathwada regions in Maharashtra on Thackeray's orders to dispel the confusion the BJP was trying to create about Sena on various issues.