Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde on Saturday attacked the Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying that he has revealed his agenda for power, showing selfishness during his rally.

“While Raj Thackeray’s solicitude for the Marathi language was evident in his speech, Uddhav Thackeray showed anger, hatred and a thirst for power and a chair. He did not speak for Marathi, but for selfishness and the agenda of power,” claimed Shinde in his reaction to the joint victory rally addressed by Uddhav and Raj Thackeray to celebrate the Maharashtra government’s move to withdraw the introduction of Hindi along with Marathi and English from grade one.

Interestingly, Shinde slammed Uddhav Thackeray while sparing Raj from criticism.

“It was expected that Uddhav Thackeray would apologise to the Marathi people for accepting the report on making Hindi compulsory from class 1 to 12 in the state during his chief ministership, but he turned that platform into a political arena,” alleged Shinde.

He said, “Some were saying that there is no flag, no agenda. However, while one followed that path, the other showed the flag of selfishness and the agenda of power. Today’s gathering disappointed the Marathi people.”

Taking a swipe at Uddhav Thackeray, Shinde said, “Three years ago, we revolted against injustice and had only half a hand on our beard, then they fell down and have not recovered yet. Now they are trying to get up by holding someone’s hand.”

He criticised Uddhav Thackeray for using “Dho dala, utega nahi saala” dig against him. To those who asked what he had done for Marathi, Shinde said that when he was the Chief Minister, the government took a decision on the state anthem, and today’s rally began with that state anthem.

“It was decided to give the status of a classical language to the Marathi language. Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately agreed to this proposal. It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Modi was also criticised today. This showed his (Uddhav Thackeray’s) attitude, hatred, helplessness and lust for power,” he claimed.

“Uddhav Thackeray led, Shiv Sena, should answer why Marathi people were thrown out of Mumbai, why the Marathi percentage was decreasing in the schools. The people showed him their place in the Legislative Assembly elections because he abandoned Balasaheb Thackeray’s thoughts and ideas in 2019. Shiv Sena won 60 MLAs, while Shiv Sena UBT could win only 20 seats in the 2024 Assembly elections. Thackeray led Shiv Sena betrayed the people, Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideas and Hindutva in 2019 for the power,” he alleged.

–IANS

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