'Shiv Sena (UBT) can win decent seats in local body polls if it goes solo'

Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray senior leader Chandrakant Khaire on Wednesday pitched for contesting the upcoming local body elections without an alliance in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district reported news agency PTIThe former Member of Parliament MP claimed that ruling parties gave him offers to quit Sena UBT but he would remain loyal to Uddhav ThackerayShiv Sena UBT workers are demanding that the party contest local bodies elections without forging any alliance in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar he told PTIKhaire said he had conveyed the party workers sentiments to senior Shiv Sena UBT leadersThe former MP said his partys prospects of winning elections to local bodies will brighten if it contests solo which according to him would not be true in case of an alliance PTI reportedThe alliances calculations in these elections are different he addedKhaire claimed that ruling parties and some people from Delhi tried to win him over but he rejected these offersThe ruling Mahayuti coalition comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP headed by Ajit PawarI received many offers from the ruling parties and from some people in Delhi I however rejected these offers I would stay loyal to Sena UBT which has given me so much I am a hardcore follower of Bal Thackeray Because of him I could become MLA twice and Lok Sabha member for 20 years Khaire addedHe had represented the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency on three terms before losing the 2019 and 2024 contests to All India MajliseIttehadul Muslimeen AIMIM and Shiv Sena candidates respectivelyAccording to Khaire there is a tussle going on between Deputy Chief Minister Shinde and BJPKhaire said the ruling parties strategy of poaching workers from the Opposition camp is unethicalHe also dismissed speculation about a potential union between Thackeray and BJP as a rumourMaha Kumbh 2025 stampede Shiv Sena UBT says restrictions for VIP visits lead to such tragediesThe Shiv Sena UBT on Wednesday sought to know who was responsible for the stampede at Maha Kumbh 2025 and claimed that the closure of certain parts of the riverbank for visits by ministers leads to such situations reported news agency PTIA day should be reserved for visits by VIPs said the partys Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut adding that more than Rs 10000 crore have been spent for the management of Maha Kumbh 2025 atPrayagrajWhere did the money go The BJP has been doing political campaigning through the Kumbh It wants to market the Kumbh and contest polls This is not their faith but politics and people lose their lives Raut said adding that the deaths in the early morning stampede were a murder by the state administration reported PTIMultiple casualties were feared after the stampede at theSangamas millions of pilgrims turned up for a holy bath on Mauni AmavasyaWhen Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Maha Kumbh a ghat was closed for a day and when Home Minister Amit Shah visited the entire Prayagraj was closed the Sena UBT leader claimedThis adds to the pressure on the system and this leads to crowding and then a stampede takes place Raut said reported PTIWith PTI inputs