'Retire now': Arvind Sawant takes swipe at Ashish Shelar over MVA seat tally remark

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant has taken a swipe at Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, saying people are waiting for his retirement from politics, after the latter declared to do so if the opposition MVA won even 18 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

Hitting out at Shelar, Sawant, who won the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat for a third term, on Wednesday also claimed that "these people" were brimming with arrogance.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), on Tuesday won 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

The ruling Mahayuti, which includes the BJP, the Shiv Sena headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, won 17 seats, while one seat was bagged by an independent candidate.

Before the polls, Shelar said if the Mahayuti crosses 45 seats in Maharashtra, then Uddhav Thackeray should quit politics, and if the MVA wins 18, then he will quit politics.

Asked about Shelar's claim, Sawant told reporters in Delhi on Wednesday, "People are waiting for you to take retirement from politics." Out of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, the BJP contested three seats and lost two.

The only face-saver for the BJP was the victory of Union minister Piyush Goyal in Mumbai North seat.