Uddhav Thackeray at Panchayat Aaj Tak: If made CM, I’ll make Maharashtra No.1

If made the chief minister, I’ll make Maharashtra the number one state, said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at an Aaj Tak conclave in Mumbai on Saturday.

“I don’t dream of becoming the CM but I don’t shy away from the responsibility either. I am Balasaheb’s son. If given the responsibility, I will make Maharashtra No. 1,” Uddhav Thackeray said at Panchayat Aaj Tak, sending out a message to ally BJP that’s keen on projecting its own leader as CM candidate for the Assembly polls due in October.

Asked if he will be the face of the Maharashtra elections, Thackeray said: “Delhi’s wave is in the entire country. The country wanted a change. Before the polls, when I came to Delhi, I said the country needed a face. Who will be the country’s leader? Then Narendrabhai (Modi) came to the forefront. There was success. Now it’s the turn of Maharashtra. People want a face. They will vote and they want a face.”

Asked if Uddhav Thackeray was that face, he said: “Why not? If people want to trust me, what’s wrong in that?” Watch Live | In pics

When asked if the ally (BJP) wanted another face, he said: “I don’t think they want to change the face. It is the people who have to decide. Those who want to change the face should look for reasons why people trust us.”

The Shiv Sena leader said there was no ill-will between the alliance partners and added there is no such thing as “big brother, younger brother” in his mind.

On what the party intends to do with tainted legislators, he said: “Taints are good, says an ad. Those who have cases against them, they got those taints while fighting for the people. I will say I am proud of them. But if those taints have come due to corruption, they should be in jail.”

Invoking the legacy of his father and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who had expressed concern over schoolchildren overburdened with heavy bags, Uddhav Thackeray promised Tablets for all students from Class VIII if the Sena-BJP Mahayuti alliance comes to power in Maharashtra after the elections on October 15.

The counting of votes will take place on October 19.

Thackeray’s comments come ahead of the first major NDA-Congress face-off since the Lok Sabha polls.

He said the new government will never hesitate to spend money on education whenever needed.