Resign and face elections: Aaditya Thackeray tells Eknath Shinde camp

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray has dared the rebel MLAs who have joined the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to resign and face elections.

Speaking at an event, the Worli MLA hinted that housing, quality education, healthcare, roads, and public transport will be the "focus areas" of Shiv Sena in the upcoming elections to the Mumbai civic body.

Why did you backstab us when we gave you everything and why have you not resigned yet to face elections as it happens in a democracy, the former state minister asked while speaking at the CNN-News18 Town Hall on Saturday night.

Aaditya dismissed claims by the dissidents that he and his father Uddhav Thackeray, who was the chief minister in the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government, remained inaccessible. He also denied that Shiv Sena's succession plan was meant to favour him.

I have always been around. I was allotted the portfolios (Environment and Tourism) that no one opts for otherwise. But when you have ambition