Determined to replace power that instils fear in people, says Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said that the power that instils fear in people must be replaced and asserted he was determined to do itThe former Maharashtra chief minister said If you citizenry fear power then it is of no use The power that instills fear in people should be replaced There is no alternative and I am standing in front of you with that determinationThe common citizen should feel close to power The power which instills fear should be overthrown and we all are working for it I hope the coming year will see happiness and hope and democracy will flourish he told reporters in MumbaiMeanwhile Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut Friday said his party would contest 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and the seatsharing talks with the Congress have to start from zero as the latter had not won any seat in the previous elections a statement that drew a sharp response from the state CongressThe majority of the Sena MPs are now with the Eknath Shinde faction and the Congress now happens to be the biggest party in the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA alliance state Congress leaders Sanjay Nirupam and Milind Deora pointed outThe Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress are part of the MVASpeaking to reporters Raut said the Shiv Sena UBT leaders including Thackeray have been holding talks with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and general secretary K C Venugopal over seatsharingAlso read Milind Deora No alliance can proceed without consultation with local leadershipldquoWe have said that we have been contesting 23 seats in Maharashtra and will also contest Dadra Nagar Havelirdquo Raut said adding that ldquothe Shiv Sena is the biggest partyrdquo in Maharashtra while the Congress is a national partyThe current MP of Dadra Nagar Haveli is from the SenaldquoWe have decided that the seats won by us MVA allies will be discussed later The Congress does not figure in it as it has not won any seat in Maharashtra So talks with the Congress have to start from zero in the staterdquo Raut further saidAsked about state Congress leaders pointing out that the Sena is no longer a united party Raut said the Congress did not split up and yet it lost the recent assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan and ChhattisgarhldquoA party is tested on the ground Our party workers are with us Even if our party split we won the Andheri assembly bypoll and you the Congress won the Kasba Peth assembly bypoll with our supportrdquo Raut saidThe Congress nevertheless remains an important part of the MVA and the alliance partners will contest the coming elections together he saidIn the 2019 general elections the undivided Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackerays leadership in alliance with the BJP contested 23 seats and won 18 It later broke off the ties with the BJP and in 2022 the Sena itself split after Eknath Shinde rebelled against ThackerayThe NCP won four seats in Maharashtra in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Congress only one The Congresss lone MP from Chandrapur Balu Dhanorkar died earlier this yearCongress leader Sanjay Nirupam hit back at Raut saying the Shiv Sena UBT cannot win any seat on its own It needs the Congress and vice versa said the former MPOf the 18 MPs of the Shiv Sena more than a dozen MPs have deserted the Uddhav Thackeray camp and joined the Shinde faction he saidldquoThey dont even have a guarantee as to whether the remaining MPs will stay with themrdquo Nirupam added With inputs from agencies