Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday (October 5) made it clear that no “traitor” will be given entry into the party after they turn “jobless” in one-and-half months. His remarks were a reference to the Maharashtra Assembly Elections likely to be held in November this year. He took a veiled jibe at Eknath Shinde and the MLAs of his camp who led a rebellion against Thackeray in 2022, the then chief minister of the state, that led to the fall of his government.
The Shiv Sena split in June 2022 after Shinde led a rebellion against Thackeray. Since then, Thackeray and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have routinely referred to Shinde and his band of rebels as "traitors".
Addressing a job fair organised by his party, Thackeray claimed the people of the state will show the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena its place in the assembly polls.
"After one-and-half months, these traitors (MLAs, MPs who rebelled against the party) will come to us for jobs because they will be jobless. I am not going to give a job to any traitor after the polls," Thackeray said.
In a further swipe at the Shinde government, the former chief minister also said his party, after coming to power, will take "account" of the loot of state resources.
In the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Maharashtra during the day, Thackeray said whenever the former lays the foundation stone of a project it never gets complete. No big project has started in Maharashtra after his government was toppled in 2022 due to instability in the state, Thackeray claimed.
Our Hindutva is the one that helps burn the cooking gas, while the BJP's Hindutva is the one that burns down the house, he said in a swipe at his former ally.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi claims he 'never read Dalit history in school', whatever left being removed from books