Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray made a pitch for opposition unity in order to defeat the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said an alternative would emerge on its own.
Addressing the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) joint Vajramuth rally here, the former chief minister hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying its addiction to power was destroying the country.
You just need to press the button (of EVM) to create a revolution. Freedom fighters and revolutionaries walked to the gallows to achieve freedom. They did not bother who will be the prime minister or the president. They laid down their lives for the people of the country and not to bring BJP to power, he said.
Why should you bother who will be the alternative? Someone will emerge but we need to pledge that we will not allow a government which is unjust. he said, adding that PM Modi should tell people what he has done for the country during his tenure.
Thackeray said people should be aware of how religious issues are raked up to distract their attention from core issues. Thackeray’s comments on alternatives to PM Modi and his government assumes significance as efforts for opposition unity are on. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and Rahul Gandhi are likely to meet him in Mumbai soon.
The former CM also questioned the silence of PM Modi on the Hindenburg report on billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani and also the reported revelations of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik.
If the Hindenburg report is not true, why are you shaken? Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified and now (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal might be arrested, he said. The MVA government in Maharashtra was running well, Thackeray said, adding that the BJP couldn’t wait for completion of the government’s term to make a bid for forming the next one.
The former CM also targeted the BJP, whose minister Chandrakant Patil recently said the Shiv Sena had nothing to do with the Ayodhya movement.
When the Babri mosque was demolished, there was chaos in the BJP camp. But (Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray declared that if a Shivsainik was involved he was proud, Thackeray said, and demanded to know if the Rashtriaya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agreed with the views of Chandrakant Patil.
If Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was a real ram bhakt, he would have gone to Ayodhya and not Surat and Guwahati. Did Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis go to Ayodhya when he was chief minister? he asked.