Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar dismissed the speeches of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray during their joint rally on Saturday as irrelevant, diversionary and vague.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the Mumbai BJP chief also took a swipe at the Thackeray brothers for trying to hard sell their own agenda and narrative under the premise of opposing ‘imposition’ of Hindi language in the state.

“Thackeray brothers boasted and bragged about their coming together for the Marathi pride, but the real purpose was to sell their own narrative and further their own political agenda,” Ashish Shelar said.

He added that the speeches of the two leaders at the joint rally were more of political posturing than substance.

“The things that Raj Thackeray mentioned in his speech were incomplete and irrelevant. He was trying to set his own narrative of browbeating the immigrants from other states and also justifying it while Uddhav was seen complaining and crying about being ousted from power,” Shelar stated.

Taking exception to Raj Thackeray’s statement that non-Marathi-speaking people should be beaten up but a video of it should not be made, the BJP called it absolutely absurd and reprehensible.

“Such statements are very painful. I am very hurt by such utterances,” he said.

Ashish Shelar further lent support to the Centre’s three-language policy and said that such politicking must be avoided on issues of national importance.

“They ask that in which states the three-language formula was implemented. I want to tell them that 20 states have adopted the three-language formula. Raj Thackeray opposes it for the children of Mumbai, but he never opposed it for his own children. This is injustice,” he remarked.

He said that the three-language policy facilitates children to study in their mother tongue, but these leaders want to deprive them of this opportunity.

On the reunion of the Thackeray brothers, he said that it was good to see two brothers coming together, and their families would also be happy with this development; however, it’s for them to decide whether they will contest elections together or separately.

–IANS

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