Mumbai: Opposition parties on Wednesday reacted strongly to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that the BJP will form government on its own in Maharashtra in 2029.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut called Shah’s statement a ‘dream defect’ of BJP. Opposition Leader in the Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said the BJP will not only lose the assembly polls, but also the Lok Sabha election in 2029.

During a meeting with BJP office bearers and party workers in Mumbai on Tuesday, Shah said that Mahayuti will form the government in Maharashtra later this year, but in 2029 the saffron will form government on its own.

Raut said: “Amit Shah and the BJP are suffering from drama defect disease. Before making such a statement, Shah should have thought whether his party would come to power in the 2029 Lok Sabha election. In the recent Lok Sabha election, the BJP could win only 240 seats. That tally will go down to 140 in 2029. The BJP is losing Maharashtra, Jammu Kashmir and Haryana assembly elections, but what is wrong in dreaming? Let him dream,” Raut said.

The MP said Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were a threat to Maharashtra. “Both want to loot Maharashtra and break the self-respect of the people,” he said.

Congress state in-charge Ramesh Chennithala said Shah had lost hopes of winning the 2024 election. “The BJP is losing the election. That is why he is making a statement about the 2029 assembly election,” he said.

Wadettiwar said the people of Maharashtra were so fed up with the functioning of the state government that the BJP would not come in power for the next 10 to 15 years.

NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil commented that the BJP’s position in Maharashtra was very weak. “That is why Amit Shah is holding frequent meetings in Maharashtra, instead of going to Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, where assembly elections are going on,” he said.