Uddhav Thackeray labels Fadnavis a 'taint,' BJP retaliates, political rivalry escalates

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ignited a political conflict with his recent speech in Nagpur, where he referred to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as a 'taint.' This has further intensified the ongoing rivalry between Thackeray's party and the saffron party. The disagreement escalated to the point where BJP youth workers even vandalized Thackeray's banner.

Uddhav Thackeray criticized the BJP leader for becoming a negative influence on Nagpur by forming an alliance with the NCP, despite consistently stating that he would never do so. Thackeray presented an old audio clip of Devendra Fadnavis affirming his refusal to join hands with the NCP, highlighting the contradiction and suggesting that the BJP leader's denial actually meant agreement.

Speaking on Thackeray's comment, Nagpur MP and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that levelling personal allegations is uncultural. He said in a tweet, "But levelling personal allegations at such a low level does not suit the political culture of Maharashtra."

श्री उद्धव ठाकरे यांनी नागपूरमध्ये श्री देवेंद्रजींबद्दल केलेले वक्तव्य निंदनीय आहे. राजकारणात भाषेचा स्तर राखायला हवा. आम्ही सरकारमध्ये असताना केलेले विकासकार्य आणि त्यांनी केलेले कार्य यावर त्यांनी जरूर चर्चा करावी, परंतु अशा पद्धतीने अत्यंत खालच्या स्तरावर जाऊन व्यक्तिगत आरोप…

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) July 10, 2023

Maharashtra BJP Chief too backed Fadnavis and called him a 'gem' for the state and not a 'taint'.  "Uddhavji, you are the one who is tainted. You stabbed us in the back. You are arrogant. You are narrow-minded. There are political differences but no political opponent uses such language. By criticizing a Godly man like Devendra in such a distorted way, you have destroyed even the little respect I had for you," he wrote.

उद्धव जी, तुमच्याबद्दल शिल्लक असलेला आदरसुद्धा आता संपला आहे.

आमचे नेते @Dev_Fadnavis हे कलंक नाहीत तर महाराष्ट्र भूषण आहेत.

उद्धवजी तुमचे मानसिक संतुलन बिघडले आहे. आपण काय बोलत आहोत, याचे भान तुम्हाला राहत नाही. भाजपा नेत्यांना उद्देशून तुम्ही ‘ मर्दाची औलाद असाल तर‘ असे…

— Chandrashekhar Bawankule (@cbawankule) July 10, 2023