'INDIA bloc to decide PM candidate today,' says Uddhav Thackeray ahead of alliance meet

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the INDIA alliance will decide on its Prime Ministerial candidate in its meeting on Wednesday. Thackeray also alleged that the BJP government harassed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

His comments came ahead of an INDIA alliance meeting on Wednesday, news agency ANI reported.

"The day our INDIA alliance was formed, we had decided that we wanted to end the dictatorship in the country and save the Constitution. We will decide on the PM candidate tomorrow. All patriots and all people who are harassed by them (BJP) will come with us. Chandrababu has also been harassed by the BJP government," he said. 

He also said that the INDIA alliance needs to stake the claim to form the Central government given the numbers they have. 

Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc registered a stellar win in Maharashtra. Nine Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha candidates including Arvind Sawant from Mumbai South won. 13 Congress candidates, including Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai North Central, won in Maharashtra.

Nationalist Congress Party- Sharadchandra Pawar won 8 seats, including Supriya Sule from Baramati. The NDA, however, failed to perform as per expectations. The BJP could win only 9 seats, including Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur and Piyush Goyal from Mumbai North. 

The Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde won on 7 seats, including Dr Shrikant Eknath Shinde from Kalyan. The NCP led by Ajit Pawar won one seat-- Sunil Tatkare from Raigad. 

Overall, the BJP-led NDA fell far short of '400 paar' as it won 292 seats. Of this, the BJP won 240 seats, the TDP bagged 16 seats and the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) won 12 seats.

The Shiv Sena won 7 seats whereas the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) won 5 seats. The Janata Dal (Secular), Rashtriya Lok Dal and Jana Sena Party won 2 seats each. Others won 1 seat each.