Mumbai, Nov 4 (IANS): Mumbai unit BJP chief Ashish Shelar on Monday asked Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray to clarify his stance on Congress' move to nominate only two Marathi candidates out of its 11 nominees in Mumbai.

"Of the 11 candidates Congress has named to contest from Mumbai for the forthcoming Assembly elections from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, only two candidates are Marathi. Now, Uddhav Thackeray needs to clarify his stance regarding the Congress that has always exhibited its extreme hatred towards Marathi people," he said.

Shelar said that Congress has completely ignored Marathi faces for the upcoming elections.

"In fact, Congress has disregarded senior Marathi leaders. It may be recalled that during the Samyukta Maharashtra struggle, Congress was firm on its stance that they will not let Maharashtra become a Marathi-speaking state. Marathi agitators were even shot at, and as a result, nearly 106 Marathi people were martyred. Even now, Congress has retained its anti-Marathi stance and did not nominate Marathi leaders,’’ he added.

"The MahaYuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi are clearly at odds in this election. The analogy is inevitable because both the MahaYuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi were in power in the state for two and a half years. While the Maha Vikas Aghadi government only kept opposing and stalling the development works in the state, the MahaYuti government focused on the state’s development. And hence, the people of Maharashtra can now make well-informed decisions. The competition is getting much easier and we are confident that the people will elect Mahayuti, once again to power," claimed Shelar, who is contesting from Bandra West constituency.

Meanwhile, Shelar also challenged state Congress unit chief Nana Patole to prove his claim that Maharashtra Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla, who was on Monday transferred by the Election Commission of India, was the acolyte of the MahaYuti government.

"Targeting and harassing government officials with such indiscriminate accusations is highly condemnable. The Congress may suffer due to this stance. Congress' stance is clear – when things go in their favour, the Election Commission is impartial, but when they don't, the Commission is prejudiced. Tomorrow, they might mourn the defeat as well," Shelar added.