A day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah dubbed his Shiv Sena faction as “fake”, Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday lashed out at Mr. Shah, questioning how many “real” BJP leaders remained in the ruling party today.
On a tour of Palghar while campaigning for the Sena (UBT)’s candidate, Bharati Kamadi, Mr. Thackeray launched a broadside against PM Narendra Modi.
“This is a country of 140 crores and one person rules over it as if the people are slaves. He [PM Modi] lords over the populace and is supposed to be acclaimed like he is someone descended from Heaven,” Mr. Thackeray quipped, while exhorting the voters of Palghar to throw out the BJP in the upcoming election.
Taking aim at Mr. Shah, who had criticised Mr. Thackeray during his Nanded rally on Thursday, the Sena (UBT) chief said, “You keep claiming we are the ‘false’ Shiv Sena. But Amit Shah, how many real BJP people are left in your BJP car today? How dare you call our party the nakli [fake] Shiv Sena which was established to fight for the rights of the Marathi-speaking sons of the soil.”
Censuring the arrogance of the ruling BJP and the Mahayuti government, Mr. Thackeray said he had “made a mistake” in campaigning for PM Modi in Palghar at the time of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
“Just imagine, the BJP is out to finish-off the Shiv Sena which remained steadfastly with Mr. Modi during his tough times. The BJP and Modi-Shah should be answering Chinese aggression in Arunachal Pradesh and Leh-Ladakh. But it is all right for them if China enters India. We had elected them to finish off external foes like China and Pakistan. But there, they act like cowards. Instead, the BJP wants to finish-off Uddhav Thackeray and other non-BJP parties,” Mr. Thackeray, who was CM of the erstwhile MVA government, said.
Dubbing the BJP as the ‘Bhrasht (corrupt) Janata Party’, Mr. Thackeray condemned the manner in which it split the Shiv Sena in 2022.
“They split our party by putting the gun of ED and CBI on the heads of our MLAs who were spirited away from Palghar to Surat in Gujarat. You have split my party, stolen its symbol. Now, you want to steal my father [late Bal Thackeray] too?” he said, claiming that the voters in the rural hinterland were overwhelmingly against PM Modi and the BJP.
Mr. Thackeray alleged that all ‘constructive’ industrial projects were being taken to Gujarat while all projects that devastated the ecology of Maharashtra were being thrust on the State.
He further predicted that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance would come to power by winning more than 300 Lok Sabha seats.
Palghar an ST reserved seat will vote in the fifth and last phase in Maharashtra on May 20.
