Mumbai, April 21 (IANS) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday dared the Bharatiya Janata Party to set aside the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation and face the party in a fair fight.

He called the current administration “cowardly” for harassing women through agencies and urged the Marathi people to stand united against the “anarchy” currently facing the nation.

Targeting Bharatiya Janata Party leadership, he lamented the lack of leaders of Arun Jaitley’s calibre in the current Cabinet.

In his speech at the 58th Annual General Meeting of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, Thackeray touched on a wide range of issues, from labour rights and political defections to women’s safety and the misuse of central agencies. He emphasised that the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena has never betrayed workers in 58 years.

Addressing the Women’s Reservation Bill, Thackeray questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party’s sincerity regarding women’s empowerment.

He asked whether, if there was so much concern for women, female Members of Parliament or the President were not invited to the inauguration of Parliament or the Ram Temple, and whether it was because she is Adivasi.

He further mocked Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s comment about “unmasking” (tearing the burqa of) the opposition, and said they are Hindus, and questioned why burqas were being referred to, adding that Shinde was not even in the Lok Sabha.

Thackeray took a swipe at current political defectors, stating that people come and go, but they take their deeds with them, and that those who left for personal gain should look at their current state.

He said unions have become shops for some, but his bond remains with the ‘Saffron Flag’ at the gate, not the factory owners.

Thackeray raised concerns about the plight of Indian workers abroad, specifically mentioning those in Dubai who prefer staying in conflict zones over returning to unemployment in India.

He criticised the “hire and fire” culture and questioned why workers are forced to seek dangerous jobs overseas. He also criticised the government for labelling labour strikes as “Pakistani conspiracies”.

He urged workers and citizens to live “one day like a tiger” rather than a hundred like a sheep.

On population control, he defended states that successfully implement family planning, asking whether family planning is a crime.

He challenged Mohan Bhagwat’s call for larger families, questioning who would provide for the resulting unemployment.

Thackeray criticised the government’s obsession with winning the West Bengal elections while ignoring internal issues.

He noted that while 200,000 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were deployed for West Bengal elections, only 20,000 were sent to Manipur during its crisis.

He remarked that the Chief Minister is in West Bengal while drug and molestation cases are rising in Maharashtra, referring to Devendra Fadnavis’s recent campaign visits.

Invoking the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Thackeray emphasised that the spirit of Maharashtra is to crush injustice.

He said that if not for Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji Maharaj, and Tararani, there would not have been a Ram Temple today, adding that they buried Aurangzeb here and that he would rather die than convert or defect.

–IANS

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