He claimed that it was Thackeray himself who nominated his son Uddhav to the post of the Sena’s working president, not his estranged nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj.

Rane added that it was common practice in the Shiv Sena to continue with a dynasty rule in the party.

“Now it is Thackeray himself who has introduced his grandson Aditya into politics and from there it can be concluded that Thackeray has the habit of telling lies and is thus a confirmed liar,” he said.

“The Sena working president (Uddhav) is such an ignorant person that he does not even know what a municipal corporation is and does not have any experience of the working for such an organization. And if the Sena-BJP combine comes to power in the Kalyan-Dombivili Municipal Corporation again, that would usher in a disaster.”

Responding to a question from journalists about the Sena’s publicity hoardings having Thackeray’s picture on it, Rane said: “Now there is no leader, issue or power left in the Sena. Nothing is left; the Sena is a sinking ship. The pictures of Thackeray in the hoardings will not benefit the Hindus or the Marathi people in any way.” On the issue of the MNS being referred to as the test tube baby by some leaders of the Sena-BJP combine, Rane asked: “From which home has the test tube baby come from?

“Those who are not even capable of keeping their family members together, how would they be able to run the Municipal Corporations?”

Rane, who is campaigning in Thane with other Congress and NCP leaders for Congress-NCP combine candidates for the Kalyan-Dombivili Municipal Corporation, said that voters in the constituency were angry with the alleged vast corruption and negligence of the Sena-BJP combine in the city and wanted a change. However, elections have to be contested against some party.

“Therefore I had stated that the MNS is the enemy of the Sena-BJP combine. Still, the Congress-NCP combine will clinch the power from the opposition without the support of the MNS,” Rane said.