Day after Shah came calling, Uddhav says 'drama' is going on

A day after BJP president Amit Shah called on Uddhav Thackeray in an attempt to placate the sulking ally, the Shiv Sena chief today said whatever is happening is "all drama".

Addressing party cadres at Palghar near here, where Sena candidate lost to BJP's nominee in the recent Lok Sabha by-election, Thackeray referred to the meeting yesterday and said, "Whatever is going on now is all drama".

Shrinivas Wanaga, the Sena's candidate who lost, gave a "scare" to the BJP, Thackeray claimed.

After the BJP sources yesterday termed the Shah-Thackeray meeting as "positive" and claimed it reduced the tension between the allies, Sena leader Sanjay Raut earlier today sought to dismiss "speculation" that the talks would culminate in an alliance for the next Lok Sabha polls.

Thackeray continued to attack the BJP, accusing it of using "all possible means" to win the by-poll.

"A minimum of six lakh votes were cast against the BJP. I am not ready to accept the defeat, be it in a sporting way or any other way," he said.

"If the Electronic Voting Machines malfunctioned due to heat, then what did they conduct (prior) tests on? Voters' names were missing, there was bogus voting, machines malfunctioned, people were caught distributing cash. Is this called democracy?" Thackeray asked.

"There was no action even when the BJP used all possible means. It is, in a way, a defeat of the BJP," he said.

"One tribal boy (Shrinivas Wanaga) managed to get two and a half lakh votes in fifteen days (of campaigning). Now there are eight months left. In 2019, Shrinivas Wanaga should become the MP," he said.