'There will be no need': Fadnavis spills the beans on whether Mahayuti's doors are open for Uddhav

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday spilled the beans on whether Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray is welcome into the ruling Mahayuti's fold or not. Fadnavis said that the doors have definitely been closed for Thackeray. 

"It has definitely been closed and there will be no need for it. I talk very cautiously nowadays because the 2019 election has taught me that anything can happen in politics. Despite that, I am saying that now there will be no need," Fadnavis said in a conversation with newswire ANI. 

He also said that despite Maharashtra's complicated political history, he is confident that people will give a decisive majority to the Mahayuti this time.

"I believe that people will give a decisive mandate to Mahayuti this time," he said. Speculations around Uddhav making a comeback to the Mahayuti ahead of state elections garnered traction when he met Fadnavis during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent Mumbai visit. 

Shiv Sena UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, however, refuted these claims and said no such meeting happened between the two leaders. Not only speculations around Uddhav joining Mahayuti, Fadnavis also spoke on why he agreed to become the Deputy CM under Eknath Shinde.  

He said: "I knew from the first day that we want to make Shinde ji the Chief Minister. We wanted to show that what happened with Uddhav ji was not for power."

Fadnavis added that Uddhav was lying about the BJP promising a term-sharing between Fadnavis and Thackeray as CMs. The firebrand BJP leader further mentioned that it was Uddhav who left for power, thus, paving the way for Eknath Shinde to become the CM. 

The alliance between the BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena broke off in 2019 when Uddhav Thackeray joined hands with the Congress and the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form a new alliance -- Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). 

Thackeray led the MVA government as the Chief Minister till June 2022, when Eknath Shinde and 40 other MLAs of the coalition moved to Surat and later to Guwahati. After failing to convince Shinde and other MLAs, Thackeray stepped down as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on June 30. 

The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP. 

Voting across the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra will take place in a single phase on November 20. The counting of votes will take place and results will be declared on November 23.