Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray — assailed on both political and public health front — today assured people that he would balance it all. “Whatever political storms come, I will face… I will fight coronavirus too,” he said at a televised public address in the state today.

“Over the last few days, we have done a lot of work (on coronavirus)… we will fight the political crisis too,” Mr Thackeray said.

“Whatever storms have reached the state, be it natural or political, the government has been fighting them,” added the Chief Minister, whose government has been under BJP attack over the handling of actor Sushant Rajput’s death since June.

Over the last weeks it has also found itself embroiled in a battle with actor Kangana Ranaut, which starting over the same issue, escalated fast.

Led by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP has repeatedly attacked the Shiv Sena over its refusal to hand over the Sushant Rajput case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Once the Supreme Court decided to hand over the investigation to the Central agency, the party had been facing BJP barbs.

There was also a social media tumult linking Mr Thackeray’s son, state minister Aaditya Thackeray, to the case.

The party had lashed out when Kangana Ranaut said she felt unsafe in Mumbai and then compared the country’s financial capital to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Earlier this week, Ms Ranaut linked the Brihanmumbai Corporation’s demolition at her office to the Sena, which also controls the civic body, and said it was vendetta.

In a video posted on Twitter, she also attacked Uddhav Thackeray.

Party sources said Mr Thackeray was advised to drop the issue by Sharad Pawar, the veteran leader of Sena ally Nationalist Congress Party. Mr Pawar had also said Ms Ranaut’s comments were best ignored – an option Mr Thackeray has refused to consider in view of his core votebank.

On a different front, the Sena also has to placate the Maratha population, which has been deeply upset by the Supreme Court’s refusal to endorse the Martha quota for jobs or college admissions granted by Bombay High Court.

“I assure you that we will fight for justice for you. Even in last government, all four parties worked towards giving reservation to the Maratha community. And we will fight for it. We have best of legal counsels with us… But I appeal to you to not come out on roads protesting as the Covid crisis is looming large,” the Chief Minister said.

Maharashtra has the maximum number of coronavirus cases in the country.