INDIA. Mumbai: In a fiery address during a grand Dussehra rally at the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Maidan in Dadar, Central Mumbai, Shiv Sena Party President Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray lashed out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for defecting from the party and forming a coalition with the BJP to govern Maharashtra.
Thackeray expressed his disapproval of the Shinde Sena, referring to them as a group of opportunists driven solely by the pursuit of power.
However, Chief Minister Shinde, speaking at a rival rally at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai, countered by accusing those who left Shiv Sena to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government with the Congress of betraying the legacy of Shiv Sena patriarch late Balasaheb Thackeray. He even recalled a 2004 incident when Balasaheb protested derogatory remarks against Veer Savarkar.
Diverging from Hindutva
Shinde criticized Shiv Sena (UBT) for straying from the path of Hindutva and forming alliances with Congress and socialist groups. He went so far as to suggest the party might merge with Congress or align with AIMIM, Owaisi, Hamas, Hizbul, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, implying that the party was motivated by self-interest rather than ideology.
Shinde also mentioned alleged corruption in the Brihanmumbai Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), questionable procurement of medicines during the Covid pandemic, and the state of Mumbai’s roads.
In response, Thackeray challenged Shinde to conduct comprehensive investigations into BMC, Thane, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, and Nagpur municipal corporations, as well as the “PM Cares Fund” set up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taking a swipe at Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
Thackeray took a veiled dig at Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, referencing a recent flood in Nagpur that caused significant damage. He suggested that Fadnavis had failed to prevent the disaster.
Indo-Pak match analogy
Thackeray also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hosting a cricket match with Pakistan after the formation of the Opposition Alliance (INDIA).
He equated this decision to Balasaheb Thackeray’s stance against allowing Pakistan to play cricket in India until Pakistan ceased terrorist activities. Thackeray argued that if they call his party traitors, the same label should apply to the government.
Call for alliance government
Thackeray concluded by stating that the country needs a new government, emphasizing the importance of alliances over absolute majorities.
Maratha reservation
Regarding the ongoing Maratha community reservation protest, Thackeray suggested that the issue could be resolved in the Lok Sabha. He called for unanimous solutions to the reservations of Dhangar, OBC, and Marathas in Parliament.
Chief Minister Shinde reassured the Maratha community that the state government was committed to providing reservations without affecting other communities’ quotas, urging the youth not to resort to extreme measures like suicide.
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