Uddhav slams BJP: Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of plotting ‘split’ in other parties, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday (July 10) claimed that the saffron party does so as it lacked confidence in winning elections on its own.
Thackeray also accused the BJP-led Centre of propping up issues like the Uniform Civil Code ahead of the polls to divert the attention of the public for electoral gains.
Addressing his party workers in Amravati, he asked the BJP why it felt the need to ‘split’ other parties when it claims to have the ‘number one prime minister in the world’.
"You are stealing the Shiv Sena, you have also stolen the NCP and you will steal some other tomorrow. You sell off what belongs to the country and rob what belongs to others," he alleged.
"Why this time has come before the BJP - the biggest party in the world? Its meaning is very simple - you have 'satta ki masti' (pride of power) and no 'atmavishwas' (self-confidence). The BJP, even after becoming so big and powerful, still feels it won't get elected," he said.
Thackeray dared the BJP to set aside the central agencies like ED, Income Tax, and police and face other political parties in the political arena.
He claimed that Shiv Sena carried the burden of the BJP on its shoulders when the latter was ‘nothing’ in Maharashtra and eventually helped it expand its base.
"You are trying to finish us off in politics, this is your Hindutva. We were with you for 25 to 30 years and now you are planning to finish off the Shiv Sena which was with you when you were zero," he said hitting out at its former saffron ally.
Uddhav invokes Bal Thackeray
"Balasaheb Thackeray saved you, otherwise (former prime minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee had then thrown you in the dustbin. If Balasaheb Thackeray had not stood behind the present prime minister, then would he have been the PM now? This you should ask yourself rather than asking others," he said.
He accused the BJP of raising issues to divert people’s attention and said that the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be brought up as soon as elections approach.
“The BJP is not doing any favour by constructing the Ram temple as it is the Supreme Court which gave a decision on the matter. We were demanding a special legislation for the Ram temple construction but they (government) did not have the guts to bring it,” he said.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Thackeray broke ties with the BJP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with the help of the NCP and Congress.
The MVA government collapsed in June last year after Shinde broke ranks with Thackeray. Shinde later formed a government in alliance with the BJP.
On July 2 this year, Ajit Pawar led a split in the NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, and joined the Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP MLAs also took oath as ministers in the state cabinet.
(With PTI inputs)
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