Uddhav slams BJP over ‘faux Hindutva’, says Mumbai won’t ever be separated from Maharashtra

By PTI

MUMBAI: Sounding the bugle for elections to the Mumbai municipal company and a number of other different civic our bodies within the state that are due this 12 months, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday slammed the BJP and mentioned the makes an attempt to “separate Mumbai” from the state won’t ever succeed.

The BJP was peddling “fake Hindutva and diverting attention from real issues,” he mentioned.

Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, additionally accused the previous ally of doing soiled politics, and puzzled if it was the identical BJP which the Sena thought-about to be its good friend for 25 years.

Notably, the chief minister addressed his first open air public assembly in two years. Thackeray had undergone a backbone surgical procedure in November 2021 and was confined to dwelling for a number of weeks.

The BJP has “A ,B ,C teams” and “gives them loudspeakers and asks them to visit Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb or recite the Hanuman Chalisa,” an aggressive Thackeray mentioned, making reference to current political controversies within the state. “The BJP will only watch the tamasha (drama) and address press conferences,” he added.

Without naming his estranged cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, the chief minister mentioned like Sanjay Dutt’s character within the movie “Lage Raho Munnabhai” thinks he’s conversing with Mahatma Gandhi, some individuals assume they’re Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

He additionally hit out at BJP chief and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over the latter’s alleged comment that “Mumbai will be freed.” “This was not a slip of tongue, it was what was in his mind,” Thackeray mentioned.

“Such attempts (to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra) will never be allowed to succeed. Maharashtra has got Mumbai after a lot of struggle and shedding blood,” the chief minister mentioned. “If Dawood Ibrahim decides to join the BJP, he may even be made a minister. That is why, perhaps, central agencies are after him,” he quipped.

In an obvious reference to the Enforcement Directorate’s raids on the properties of his brother-in-law, Thackeray mentioned he was exercising restraint. “I have never targeted the family members of political opponents,” he added.

The BJP was appearing like a ”jilted lover” and “throwing acid” on Maharashtra by maligning it, mentioned Thackeray, whose social gathering broke off its alliance with the BJP after the 2019 Assembly elections over the chief minister’s submit. He additionally condemned Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale’s alleged derogatory submit about NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Targeting Fadnavis for saying that he was in Ayodhya throughout the demolition of the Babri mosque, Thackeray mentioned, “If you had tried to climb the Babri mosque, it would have collapsed under your weight.” He then cited BJP veteran L Ok Advani’s remark that those that climbed on the Babri construction have been Marathi-speakers.

The Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana has at all times highlighted the problems of nationwide and state significance however by no means insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thackeray mentioned.

He additionally alleged that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is beneath the Union authorities, “takes care of Aurangzeb’s tomb” however is available in the way in which of his authorities’s initiative to protect and develop historical temples within the state.