Mumbai, July 7 (IANS) Shiv Sena(UBT) on Monday criticised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ terming party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s speech ‘Rudali (professional mourner)’ in the joint ‘victory rally’ held with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder Raj Thackeray.

The rally was held on Saturday here to celebrate what they claim was a victory after the CM revoked two Government Resolutions that had introduced Hindi as a third language in primary schools in the state.

In a blistering attack, the Thackeray camp in the party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ editorial said if CM Devendra Fadnavis thinks that a massive gathering of Marathi people in Mumbai is ‘Rudaali’, then he should continue his ‘Rudaali’. “Fadnavis’ ‘Rudaali’ is not the voice of Maharashtra and Marathi people,” it said.

“There is a type of ‘Rudaali’ in Rajasthan, Haryana, Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh, etc. If there is a tragic event like death in someone’s house, women are invited there (to the rich people’s houses) on rent, that is, to cry, beat their chests and wail. They take cash, cry and leave. It is not a tragedy of the state that Fadnavis should compare the Marathi identity that celebrates the ‘Marathi’ victory to women who take money and cry at the time of death,” read the editorial.

The editorial further said, “Fadnavis and his party have huge wealth. This is loot. Therefore, they can afford to hire people to cry, laugh, and applaud Modi’s meetings. A truly self-respecting Marathi man does not get involved in selling his self-respect but he loves the Marathi language, Marathi literature, Marathi history and the masculine element in it.”

The editorial in detail explained the tradition of Maharashtra. “It is associated with poet Govind, who bared his talent against British slavery, with Lokmanya Tilak who wrote hard-hitting editorials against British Rule in Kesari newspaper, poet Vinayak, Swatantryaveer Savarkar, Shivram Mahadev Paranjpe, Kakasaheb Khadilkar, Annabhau Sathe, Shahir Amarshekh, Acharya Atre, and Balasaheb Thackeray, who wounded the enemies of Maharashtra through cartoons and founded the ‘Shiv Sena’ to fight the injustices against the Marathi people,” said the Saamana.

“Since the BJP and its aides do not fit anywhere in this tradition, they are belittling the masculinity of Maharashtra as ‘Rudaali’. Narendra Modi’s ‘Rudaali’ has been going on in the country for the last ten years. Even after coming to power, there will be no other ‘Rudaali’ except targeting Pandit Nehru and Gandhi to cover up their own failures,” claimed the Thackeray camp.

–IANS

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