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Mumbai: Drawing on his oratory skills, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday took pot-shots at his predecessor and one-time close friend, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis remarking “the virus too said I will come again and unfortunately it has returned”. He drew the analogy from Fadnavis pre-2019 Assembly election speech in the legislative assembly in which he had famously quipped “I shall return again”.
Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks over the Governors joint address to both the houses of the state legislature on March 1, the Chief Minister did not spare Prime Minister Narendra Modi either. Taking a sarcastic dig at the Prime Ministers idea of beating utensils during the initial phase of the lockdown, Thackeray while referring to the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) flagship program “Shivbhojan” for the poor, remarked that at least the MVA government provided fully served Thalis (plates), but they (Centre) wanted empty thalis to be beaten.
Commenting on the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic Thackeray said that he had requested the Centre to allow the daily wage labourers to travel back to their native places, but the state was denied the permission. The daily wage labourers then had to be sent when the Corona pandemic was at its peak. Thackeray ruled out the possibility of re-imposing the lockdown and added that the government does not want the livelihoods of the poor to suffer.
On the on-going vaccination drive, the Chief Minister stated that there are so many people coming to take the vaccine. Stating that there were some issues with the App, Thackeray termed them as teething troubles. The Chief Minister further said that he will not blame the Centre for the technical glitches in the App. “We need their help for all this. We requested permission for private hospitals which has now been given. I am sure we will give more vaccines sooner”, remarked Thackeray.
Taking a further sarcastic dig at the renaming of the Cricket stadium at Motera in Gujarat after the Prime Minister, Thackeray remarked that they were given to understand that from now on we (India) will not lose any matches now because the name of the stadium has been changed. “And they now ask us about Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad). We will change it”, asserted Thackeray.
Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government at the Centre, the Chief Minister further remarked that nobody should seek the accounts of the Prime Ministers Fund. “The Centre does not answer no matter how many times one may ask. Nobody dares to even ask. Because if they do, they are slapped with sedition charges”, added Thackeray.
Referring to the criticism made against him, Thackeray said that he did not care if someone termed him as the villain. He said that he will take responsibility for the people of Maharashtra and added that he will not put the lives of my people at risk. Thackeray said that the lives of the people of the state are dearer to him than the petty politics of the opposition. Thackeray further warned that he will not hesitate putting people behind the bars if they play with people’s lives.
Commenting on the farmers’ agitation against the three new farm laws in Punjab, the Chief Minister stated that Sant Namdev had gone to Punjab and worked there. “Now the people in Punjab are in trouble. Their power and water are being cut-off. Nails are being put in their path. If this kind of preparation was done at our borders then China or Bangladesh would not dare to infiltrate. The country is not your private property, it is theirs too”, further remarked Thackeray.
Thackeray took a further swipe at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), stating that while the Shiv Sena was not in the freedom struggle but neither was your (BJPs) parent organisation. By just saying ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ does not make you (BJP) a patriot.
Later reacting to the Chief Ministers reply to the debate in the legislative assembly, Fadnavis stated that by remarking that we (India) run away at the sight of the Chinese, the Chief Minister has insulted the valour of our Jawans who defend our borders in minus 30 degrees temperatures. Taking a counter dig at Thackeray, he said that while taking a tour of all the states in the country in his speech, the Chief Minister probably forgot that he was speaking in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha. The fact that he could not speak anything on Maharashtra is in itself a big failure, added Fadnavis.
