As Sena factional fight intensifies ahead of civic polls, Shinde accuses Thackeray of having deceived his late father Balasaheb Thackeray by allying with Congress and NCP.
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Mumbai: Sounding the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction’s) poll bugle for the ensuing civic polls across Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde lashed out Sena president Uddhav Thackeray by alleging that the latter had not only deceived his father, late Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray, by allying with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), but was also responsible for the dwindling Marathi-speaking population in Mumbai city.
Addressing a massive rally in Paithan in Aurangabad district, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose rebel Sena faction is in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanded that former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray explain to the people of Maharashtra as to why had the Marathi-speaking population migrated out of Mumbai city.
The Chief Minister further added, “If they (Uddhav camp) are so concerned about Mumbai, then why don’t you (Uddhav Thackeray) publish how many Marathi-speaking people are left in Mumbai? Have you ever bothered to analyse why they have been thrown out of Mumbai and have been forced to migrate to suburbs like Virar and Badlapur? They need to do an analysis of this through ‘Saamana’ (Thackeray faction’s mouthpiece), but they will not have the courage to do so.”
The CM said that had Uddhav Thackeray understood their plight of Marathi-speaking people, then their percentage would not have declined in Mumbai city. He remarked that while the Thackeray faction had no qualms about asking votes in the name of Marathi-speaking people, the plight of the latter was ignored once elections got over.
The political aim behind Eknath Shinde’s show of strength is to challenge the beleaguered Thackeray faction in the latter’s strongholds in the Mumbai and Aurangabad civic bodies, where the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has held sway for more than two decades.
This time, Eknath Shinde after having parted ways with the majority of Sena MLAs and MPs to ally with the BJP, both parties are hell-bent on ending the Thackeray factions’ supremacy in these two civic bodies.
Targeting UddhavThackeray, by remarking that he would have to account before the public of Maharashtra as to why he deceived Bal Thackeray and drowned hi father’s Hindutva ideals by allying with the Congress and the NCP, Eknath Shinde remarked, “Today, we have 160 MLAs, but the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election will see 200 MLAs of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction)-BJP alliance.”
Remarking that the Uddhav camp today had nothing left but to hurl petty jibes at the Shinde camp, the Chief Minister said that his faction would give Uddhav Thackeray a fitting reply through their work.
Replying to the Thackeray camp’s accusation that the rebel faction was paying people to swell their audience numbers, Eknath Shinde clarified, “We don’t need to pay crowds for our rallies.”
Claiming that the ‘beautification’ of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon’s grave had taken place during Uddhav Thackeray’s MVA government, Eknath Shinde hit out at the rival Sena camp’s accusation that the rebels were mere ‘handmaidens’ of the BJP.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde further remarked, “Instead of being the handmaidens of traitors like Memon, it is better to be one Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah, who had the courage to scrap Article 370 in Kashmir.”
