Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), has made a jab at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and claimed the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are the only three strong parties in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
In an interview to Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, who is the executive editor of Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, Thackeray also slammed the Centre over the ethnic strife in Manipur and said Prime minister Narendra Modi is not even ready to visit the north-eastern state.
Taking an aim at a recent meeting of the BJP-led NDA, Thackeray claimed when elections approach, for the BJP its government is the NDA government. After the polls are over, it becomes the Modi-government, he added. Leaders of 38 parties, part of the NDA, met in Delhi last week. On the same day, 26 opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena (UBT), met in Bengaluru and a proposal was adopted unanimously to name their coalition as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
There are 36 parties in the NDA. The ED, CBI and Income Tax are the only three strong parties in the NDA. Where are the other parties? Some parties do not even have a single MP,” Thackeray said in the interview, the first part of which was published in Saamana on Wednesday.
On the issue of Uniform Civil Code, Thackeray said the BJP should first bring a law for a ban on cow slaughter from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. If everyone is equal before law, then those who are corrupt in the BJP should also be punished, the former Maharashtra chief minister said. He also asserted that the real Shiv Sena is where the Thackeray family is. Thackeray said those who engineered a split in the Shiv Sena thought it would perish, but it is rising again. It is also a blessing in disguise because many veterans who rebelled had occupied their seats for a long time, and now new people can get a chance in their place, he said.