Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the party of indulging in “power jihad” by splitting political parties to form a government. Hitting back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s jibe at Thackeray over the “Aurangzeb fan club”, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief called Shah a political descendant of Afghan ruler Ahmed Shah Abdali, who defeated the Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat.
Countering Thackeray’s remarks, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the language used by Thackeray (to criticise Shah) shows how nervous he is, which also reflects his intellectual bankruptcy. Addressing party workers at the Shiv Sankalp rally in Pune, Thackeray accused the Eknath Shinde-led government of bribing voters with freebies in the form of schemes like the ‘Mukhyamantri Ladki Behen Yojana’. Under this scheme, eligible women in the state will get Rs 1,500 every month.
Accusing the BJP of breaking parties, Thackeray said, “If Muslims are with us because we have explained our Hindutva to them, then we (according to the BJP) are the Aurangzeb fan club. Then what you are doing is power jihad.” In a recent event, Shah attacked Thackeray and called him the “head of the Aurangzeb fan club” who is “sitting with those who apologized for Yakub Memon, the convict of the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts.” Shah was clearly referring to Shiv Sena breaking ties with the BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections and joining hands with the Congress and NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Thackeray said, “Amit Shah is the political descendant of Ahmed Shah Abdali. He was also a Shah. He was Ahmed Shah and he is Amit Shah. Will he teach us Hindutva? You ate Nawaz Sharif’s birthday cake and we should learn Hindutva from you?” Thackeray recently targeted Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, saying, “Either you will stay or I will stay (in politics).”
Clarifying his comment, Thackeray on Saturday said he had not referred to any individual. The former chief minister said, “Some people felt I challenged someone, but I don’t challenge bedbugs. Here ‘I’ means my civilised Maharashtra and ‘AAP’ means the party that looted Maharashtra.” He said bedbugs should not be challenged, but crushed.
In response, Fadnavis said Thackeray’s remarks against Shah have established the Shiv Sena leader’s identity as a member of the “Aurangzeb fan club”. Thackeray said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asks what the Congress did in 60-70 years, but he should explain why “leakage” started in the new Parliament building, which was built barely a year ago. “This (Central) government is a leakage government. Papers are also being leaked,” he said.
Thackeray also accused the BJP of creating divisions among castes. He said, “This is not the Hindutva that Chhatrapati Shivaji taught us. This (which the BJP has adopted) must have been taught by Aurangzeb, which we do not believe in. Our Hindutva carries forward Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Maharashtra Dharma.” Taking a dig at the delay in the decision in the case of disqualification of MLAs who rebelled against him, Thackeray said, “We have faith in the judiciary. Its result will come in 5 to 50 years.”
The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief also said that democracy was being “murdered” in broad daylight but justice would be done in the people’s court. “The term of the assembly is ending. Even if they (rebel MLAs) are disqualified, they can contest elections. So did we get justice?” he said. He also targeted Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari over pothole-filled roads during the monsoon. “There are potholes everywhere, including Mumbai, Pune and other cities. Gadkari had once said that he would build such roads that there would not be a single pothole on them even after 200 years. But looking at the condition of the roads, Gadkari should be given the ‘Khadde Purush’ award. The Mumbai-Goa highway is still under construction,” Thackeray said.
At the event, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed that there is a sense of trust for Thackeray in Maharashtra. He said, “If we contest 288 seats, we can win 160. There is such a (favourable) atmosphere in Maharashtra. But we stand by our words because there is Maha Vikas Aghadi.”
