Uddhav Thackeray’s offer to Nitin Gadkari...

Uddhav Thackeray and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray bowled a googly at the BJP, offering Union Minister Nitin Gadkari a Lok Sabha candidature from Nagpur, because his name was missing from the party's first list of official nominees. Addressing a rally in Dharashiv on Friday, Thackeray wondered why Gadkari was not named in the BJP's first list of 195. He said while a Congress import like Kripashankar Singh had found a place, the leader who had strived to make the party bigger, was given a raw deal.

"What are you doing there in the BJP? Show them the Maharashtra mettle. Leave them, we will get you elected as the MVA candidate," said Thackeray in an appeal to Gadkari.

Thackeray's offer came amidst speculations that the friction between Gadkari and BJP's high command had intensified ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. A viral video, an edited cut of his interview with a YouTube news channel, had created a flutter because it showed as if the minister was critical of his government. The Opposition had used the video to score a brownie point, following which Gadkari had sent Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge a legal notice to seek an apology for posting the video.

It was also reported in the wake of the viral video and his ‘missing name' that Gadkari had met PM Narendra Modi at Nagpur airport where the latter had a brief stopover.

Fadnavis's jibe

Gadkari had not reacted till Friday evening, but Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reacted very sharply to Thackeray's offer. "This party making such an offer to our national-level leader looks like a street-level person offering to make someone the US president," he said, adding that the BJP has not discussed the Maharashtra candidates yet. "Whenever the Maharashtra list is out, Gadkari Ji's name will be the first in it," he said further.

195
No. of candidates announced by BJP in first list