Uddhav may lay claim to Balasaheb Thackeray’s property, but not his Hindutva ideals, retorts CM Eknath Shinde

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Mumbai: Launching a scathing attack against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister and rival Shiv Sena faction leader Eknath Shinde on Sunday remarked that while Uddhav Thackeray may lay claim the property of late Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, he could not stake claim to be the true heir to the Sena founder’s Hindutva ideals.   

The Chief Minister was addressing a massive public rally in Khed (in Ratnagiri district) in the Konkan region, where Uddhav Thackeray had addressed a rally barely a fortnight ago. 

“You all (Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray) claim to be Balasaheb Thackeray’s heirs. You may be the heirs to his property, but not of his ideals. We (Shinde-led Shiv Sena) do not need his property. Our real property is Balasaheb’s ideals. Even if Balasaheb (late Balasaheb Thackeray) was your father, he was nothing less than a deity for ordinary Shiv Sainiks like us. Do not try to secure false sympathy,” remarked Shinde. 

With the crucial Konkan region turning into a veritable political battleground after CM Eknath Shinde’s revolt split the Sena last year, both rival camps are locked in a struggle for supremacy. 

Lambasting Uddhav Thackeray for his alliance with the ideologically opposed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shinde taunted the former, by saying “Are you with with the ‘tukde tukde’ gang (alluding to Congress) or with patriots (meaning the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party – BJP) who scrapped Article 370 in Kashmir. You (Uddhav Thackeray) have thrown away Balasaheb’s ideals for the sake of power. You have allied with those who have supported the perpetrators of the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts.” 

Accusing Uddhav Thackeray of going along with the Congress which intended to make Rahul Gandhi, who had allegedly ‘insulted’ India in the UK, the Prime Minister. 

Remarking that Uddhav Thackeray’s vocabulary was limited in that the former CM of the erstwhile MVA government repeatedly kept  accusing the Shinde camp of taking money and being “traitors”, Shinde said he was no ‘gaddar’ (traitor) but a ‘khuddar’ (self-respecting man). 

“For the sake of power, you (Uddhav Thackeray) joined hands with the NCP and Congress. We (Shinde faction) did the work of saving the Shiv Sena. Our stance was clear as the people had voted in 2019 for the BJP-Sena alliance and for Balasaheb’s ideals…but you allied with Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar, the very people whom Balasaheb had tried to keep at bay,” CM Shinde added. 

At the rally, the Shinde camp attempted to drive a wedge within opposition MVA by playing clips ‘exposing’ former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s previous comments made against NCP chief Sharad Pawar and senior NCP leader and current Leader of Opposition (LoP) Ajit Pawar, who are currently his allies in the MVA. 

In the clips, Uddhav Thackeray is seen lashing out at both the Pawar uncle-nephew duo, while bitterly castigating Ajit Pawar for his alleged role in the multi-crore 2012 irrigation scam. 

CM Shinde further remarked, “The real betrayal happened in 2019 when you (Uddhav Thackeray) formed a government with the NCP and Congress, and not when we (Shinde faction) stepped out to join the BJP last year. But I warn you, the NCP will throttle you (Uddhav Thackeray) when the time comes. Go and check their previous record of deception.”

He said that his faction was committed to taking Balasaheb’s ideals forward as the “true heirs” of the late Sena founder’s ideals. “So, we must take care to ensure that this stain (Uddhav alliance with NCP, Congress) is wiped off and never sticks to the Shiv Sena again,” added CM Eknath Shinde.