Aurangabad/Mumbai, Feb 8 (IANS) The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday reacted angrily to an "attack" targeting former Minister and MLA Aditya Thackeray during his visit to Aurangabad.
Top Sena (UBT) leaders like MP Sanjay Raut, Leader of Opposition (Council) Ambadas Danve, spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, Aurangabad leader Chandrakant Khaire, and others have strongly condemned the incident.
Party leaders said that Aditya Thackeray's convoy was pelted with stones as it was passing through Mahalgaon village late Tuesday night during his ongoing 'Shivsamvad Yatra' in several districts, and a huge crowd of aggressive miscreants attempted to lay siege to his car.
While Aditya and Danve have pointed fingers at the 'traitors' -- referring to the ruling Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (BSS) activists for the incident, Khaire alleged that a local prominent leader of the ruling alliance had hired goons to perpetrate the attack in front of the local police team which did not rush to control the threatening mob.
Raut said it was fortunate that there were no casualties in the attack but called upon the state government to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future against any political leaders.
Slamming the government, Tiwari said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his supporters are rattled by Aditya's challenge for a face-to-face electoral contest against him in Thane or Worli Assembly seats and the attack was intended to "silence and suppress" the Sena (UBT) youth leader.
Meanwhile, the Sena (UBT) has also sent a letter to the state DGP and others highlighting the incident and demanding adequate security for Thackeray Jr., while former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is likely to speak on the issue later this afternoon.
Hours later, the Maharashtra Police is understood to have provided an additional cover to the Sena (UBT) leader, though the state government has not yet commented on the developments.
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