Uddhav Thackeray dismisses reports over son Tejas's entry in politics

With days left for the Maharashtra assembly elections, the presence of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's younger son Tejas at an election rally on Wednesday prompted speculation of his political moves. However, the Sena chief promptly dismissed the speculations. The Sena president, in his campaign speech, said Tejas, younger sibling of Aaditya Thackeray, had come on the stage merely to watch the rally, held at Sangamner in Ahmednagar district. "Tejas has only come to watch the rally. He is more at home in forest," Uddhav Thackeray has said.

Tejas, 24, was in the news recently after a new species of snakes, discovered in the Western Ghats. It was named Boiga thackerayi (Thackeray's cat snake) after him, for his contribution to discover the species. In 2016, Tejas was credited with the discovery of three new species of freshwater crabs, endemic to the Western Ghats. The find involved many field trips across coastal Konkan, Satara, Kolhapur, and Ahmednagar districts.

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Aaditya Thackeray enters poll-fray

Uddhav Thackeray's elder son Aaditya Thackeray is contesting the upcoming state polls from Worli constituency of  Maharashtra. Being the first from the Thackeray family to enter the poll-fray, Aaditya is hopeful for victory and has promised transformation in his constituency. Earlier on Thursday, Aaditya filed his nomination to contest from Worli constituency. He also declared his assets worth 16 crores in the affidavit. The Yuva Sena chief declared that he owns Rs 11.38 crore worth movable assets and Rs 4.67 crore worth immovable assets. As per the affidavit submitted by Aaditya Thackeray, he owns bank deposits worth Rs 10.36 crore, and bond shares Rs 20.39 lakhs. Furthermore, he owns a BMW car worth Rs 6.5 lakh, along with jewellery and other valuables worth Rs 64.64 lakh. He has also stated that he does not have any criminal cases against him.

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Maharashtra Polls 

Maharashtra which has 288 Assembly seats will go to polls on October 21, 2019. Maharashtra assembly elections will be held in a single-phase and the counting procedure would be conducted on October 24. While the BJP and the Shiv Sena are contesting the elections together with the former on 150 seats and the latter on 124 seats. The NCP and the Congress are also contesting in an alliance with equal seat-sharing deal between the parties. While the NCP-Congress duo faced massive Lok Sabha poll debacle, internal tussle in the BJP-Sena alliance has been reported. With such a political situation in the state, the upcoming assembly election will be a test for both the alliance. 

(with PTI inputs)

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