Brothers can decide on alliance, INDIA bloc has no conditions: Uddhav

Thackeray added that any decision on the alliance with MNS, ahead of the local body polls, will not affect his ties with the INDIA bloc

MUMBAI: While on a trip to New Delhi for an INDIA bloc partners’ meeting, when Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray was questioned by media persons on Thursday about the bloc’s role in forging an alliance between his party and his cousin Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Thackeray said, “We two brothers are capable of deciding on an alliance with each other and the INDIA bloc has nothing to do with it. There are no terms and conditions regarding this.” He added that the alliance with MNS was a separate issue about which he will “speak only in Maharashtra”.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray campaigned for party candidate Trupti Sawant for Bandra by-polls. Trupti Sawant was contesting against Congress heavyweight Narayan Rane. (Photo credit: Sanjay Solanki)

Thackeray added that any decision on the alliance with MNS, ahead of the local body polls, will not affect his ties with the INDIA bloc.

On the other hand, he slammed the state election commission (SEC) for its announcement that there would be no Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in the local body elections. “In the absence of VVPAT, how will voters confirm that their vote has gone to the party or candidate which they voted for? The SEC is trying to remove the transparency in the election process,” he said.