Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 5 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Vinod Tawde exuded confidence that the people who are in favour of national interest will come together and enable a win for Mahayuti alliance in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises of BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde, while speaking to reporters on Monday during campaigning for assembly polls, said, "Whenever society gets divided, the opposition tries to divide them more. Those who are in favour of national interest will come together and make Mahayuti win."
When asked about 'Vote Jihad', the BJP leader said that people of the state are aware of 'Jihad' while reiterating that the voters are in favour of national interest. He underscored that 'Mahayuti's war of development' will get support from voters.
"I think that the people of Maharashtra are well aware and if someone does 'jihad', voters will fight a war for the country and will fight the Mahayuti's war of development as their own," Tawde added.
The Maharashtra assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set to take place on November 23. In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena won 56 seats, and the Congress secured 44 seats.
Meanwhile, three major rebel candidates from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance refused to withdraw their nominations ahead of the polls. Despite efforts from Congress to convince them to pull out, the rebel leaders stood firm, setting the stage for a contentious battle within the alliance.
Kamal Vyavahare, the former mayor, filed her nomination from Kasba Peth, challenging sitting MLA Ravindra Dhangekar from Congress. Another Congress stalwart, Aba Bagul, the vice president, filed his nomination from Parvati he will be facing BJP's Madhuri Misal and NCP SP's official candidate of MVA Ashwini Kadam, while the third Congress leader, Manish Anand, the former vice-president of the Khadki Cantonment Board, filed his nomination from Shivajinagar Assembly seat, where he will challenge Congress' Datta Bahirat and BJP's sitting MLA Siddharth Shirole.
This development came amid speculations of a rift within both MVA and Mahayuti Alliance as rebel leaders from both factions are contesting elections in several assembly constituencies of the state after missing out on getting official nominations from parties.
The last date for the withdrawal of the nomination was November 4.