Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come to Maharashtra to campaign for the BJP during the upcoming state assembly elections.

Modi was made to sweat in Maharashtra during the recent Lok Sabha polls, Thackeray said referring to the campaign undertaken by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), in which his party is a constituent along with the Congress and the NCP (SP).

"Modi must come to Maharashtra for Vidhan Sabha polls," he said while addressing party workers here.

Assembly polls are likely to take place in October this year.

Thackeray said that in the Lok Sabha elections, Modi had to come to Kalyan to campaign for Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde to defeat a small worker of his party.

He expressed confidence that despite all odds like losing his party name (Shiv Sena) and symbol (bow and arrow) to the rival camp led by CM Shinde, he will return to power.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won only 17 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. The BJP's seat tally came down significantly from 23 in 2019 to nine this year.

Thackeray also accused the ruling Mahayuti alliance of looting Mumbai.

He said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was being financially weakened and its money was being diverted for other infrastructure agencies like the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC).

He said after coming to power, the MVA government will scrap the MMRDA.

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