Aaditya Thackeray, the Shiv Sena leader and Thackeray scion on Thursday filed his nomination papers from the Worli Assembly seat in Mumbai for the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly elections. He was joined by thousands of supporters in his mega road show before filing his nomination papers.
The 29-year-old started his day by praying before a portrait of his grandfather and Sena founder-patriarch the late Bal Thackeray at his family home ‘Matoshri’ in Bandra. He is the first one in the family to fight an election.
Aaditya Thackeray was seen waving to sea of supporters, who held saffron flags and chanting slogans in his favour. Sena workers also carried placards with photos of Aaditya, his father Uddhav and late grand father and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
It was a huge show of strength for the Shiv Sena which is projecting him as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. The Thackeray scion began the road show from Lower Parel and ended it at Worli, where he filed his nomination papers.
He also received best wishes from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP’s chief ministerial candidate.
Am I talking to the next Chief Minister,” asked a journalist. He answered, “You are talking to someone who will always serve the state.”
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray , mother Rashmi, and younger sibling Tejas accompanied him at the at the election office.
The Shiv Sena has been projecting him as the chief ministerial face if the NDA returns to power after the next month’s assembly polls.
Earlier, last week Uddhav Thackeray had recalled the “promise” he had made to his late father Bal Thackeray to install a ‘Shiv Sainik’ (party worker) as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
His statement had come against the backdrop of the BJP top brass repeatedly stressing that incumbent Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would helm the state once again.
In July, Aaditya Thackeray had launched a state-wide ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ to thank the electorate for their support in the last Lok Sabha polls and to seek their backing for the upcoming Assembly elections.
In the 2014 elections, the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested separately over a dispute over sharing of seats.The BJP won maximum 122 out of 260 seats it had contested while the Sena bagged 63 out of 282 seats.
Both the parties later joined hands to form a BJP-led government.
Assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra in a single phase on October 21. Counting of votes will take place on October 24 and the results will be out on the same day. The five-year term of the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra expires on November 9.