Aditya Thackeray asks JDU, TDP to get Speaker’s post to protect their parties

Mumbai: Aaditya Thackeray on Friday urged Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party to insist for the Speaker’s post in Lok Sabha. He warned that the BJP will try to break other alliance partners if it has its Speaker.

“A humble suggestion to the possible allies of the BJP in the newly remembered NDA: Get the post of the Speaker. Having experienced the tactics of the BJP, the minute they form government with you, they will break the promises and try to break your parties too. You’ll have experienced it earlier,” Aaditya posted on his X handle. He also tagged the official X handles of TDP and JDU in his post.

Aadity’s caution to the TDP and JDU, which are part of the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, came in the wake of vertical splits in the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra.

The splits were aided by the fact that the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's post was vacant at the time and the BJP legislator Rahul Narwekar was elected to the post as soon as the regime change in the state. Later, Narwekar ruled in favour of Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions in the disqualification petitions filed against them by the rival factions.

As the BJP has failed to get clear majority on its own in the Lok Sabha, the support of TDP (16 MPs) and JDU (12 MPs) has become crucial for the Union government’s stability. Without the two parties, NDA’s tally will come down to 265, which will be seven seats short of the majority in the House.

In another post a day before, Aaditya claimed that the people have rejected the BJP. “The country rejected the attempts of the BJP to change our Constitution and to finish off democracy. The elections have proved that arrogance has no place in our country. Arrogance, dictatorship, anti-democratic forces, and those wanting to implement their own party manual instead of our Constitution will be rejected by the country. From a brute majority, twice, to 240, is clearly a rejection of misgovernance and arrogance,” he said.

Nilesh Rane, former Lok Sabha member and son of senior BJP leader Narayan Rane, said that Aaditya’s comments should not be given importance as his own assembly constituency is in danger. Aaditya had won 2019 assembly election from the Worli assembly seats by the margin of over 64,000 votes. The assembly seat is part of the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat. Though Shiv Sena UBT’s Arvind Sawant won the Lok Sabha seat by the margin of 52,673 votes, his lead from the Worli assembly segment was only 6,715 votes.

“Aaditya won last time because of his grandfather’s goodwill and two former MLAs sacrificed their seats for him. But he has not done any work. He will not get re-elected,” Nilesh Rane said.