Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 21 (ANI): With Maharashtra abuzz with the possibility of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena joining hands with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader Sanjay Nirupam took a sarcastic jibe at the former, calling UBT 'so weak' that they have to join hands with either MNS or 'compromise with Muslim votes.'

'If both the brothers (Uddhav and Raj Thackeray) and their parties want to unite, we do not have anything to do. Today, the condition of Uddhav Thackeray and his party is that sometimes they have to join hands with Congress to win elections and sometimes compromise with Muslim votes. Today, they have become so weak that they have to give a proposal to join hands with MNS,' Nirupam told ANI in Mumbai.

Alleging that Uddhav Thackeray has made his faction of the party as the 'Muslim league,' Nirupam posed the question whether MNS would like to ally with a party which openly opposed the Waqf Act.

'Now, MNS and Raj Thackeray have to decide whether they are going with Uddhav Thackeray or not. Thackeray has made his party as a muslim league, do they (MNS) want to go with that? We have that question to MNS,' he told ANI.

'Now the situation is such that Uddhav Thackeray calls his MPs atleast five times, telling them to speak against the Waqf Act in Parliament and outside it. Just like how he organises protests against the Waqf Act, does Raj Thackeray want to go with such people?' he added.

Saying that there has been no objection from their side regarding the alliance, they are simply questioning the motive of joining hands in the interest of Maharashtra.

'We have no such problem with them joining hands, but yes, we are questioning them on how they bent the knee in front of Muslims. How they are saying that they will join hands for the good of Maharashtra, so what did they do in the last 2 years?' Nirupam said.

On April 19, Uddhav Thackeray, while addressing a party's trade union wing's function, said that ready to get back together with Raj Thackeray by keeping all the issues aside for the sake of the Marathi language and culture. Uddhav's response came during a podcast with filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief stated that he can set aside minor differences with Uddhav and work in the interest of Maharashtra.

On April 20, UBT leader Sanjay Raut said that no alliance has been finalised, with 'only emotional talks going on.' (ANI)