Shiv Sena never destabilised BJP-led government: Uddhav

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said his party never destabilised the BJP-led government in Maharashtra and always played a key role in the state's development.

Thackeray, whose party suffered a setback when it lost the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat to the AIMIM six months ago, asserted that this time, the Sena will ensure candidates of the Hyderabad-based outfit lose their security deposit.

"When the saffron alliance won a majority of Lok Sabha seats all over the country, it lost Aurangabad. Citizens were angry here and hence didnt vote for the Sena candidate.

"We lost one election, but its not all over. This is the time to correct that mistake. We will surely seize deposit of the AIMIM this time here (in assembly polls)," Thackeray said.

The Sena chief was addressing a poll rally here in central Maharashtra.

State AIMIM president Imtiyaz Jaleel won from Aurangabad defeating his nearest rival, Chandrakant Khaire of the Shiv Sena, by a narrow margin of 4,492 votes.

"The Shiv Sena has played a vital role in development of the state. Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray gave the idea of Mumbai-Pune expressway, though the project was completed by (former PWD minister) Nitin Gadkari.

"Today when Samruddhi Highway (connecting Mumbai with Nagpur) is under-construction, Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena (a minister in the BJP-led government) is playing a key role in it. We never tried to make this government unstable," he said.

After scrapping Article 370, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, enactment of a Uniform Civil Code and action against Bangladeshi infiltrators should be on agenda now, the Sena chief said.

"The central government's move to nullify Article 370 was welcomed by our party. We are expecting implementation of a Uniform Civil Code and action against Bangladeshi infiltrators now," Thackeray said.

The BJP and the Sena are contesting 162 and 126 assembly seats, respectively, in the October 21 polls. The state has a 288-member assembly.

In 2014, the two parties had fought the assembly polls separately. A few months later, the Shiv Sena had joined the BJP government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.