Nashik, Jan 9 (IANS) Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Friday launched a blistering attack on Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP. He questioned the authenticity of BJP’s Hindutva and accused the party of “stealing” leaders from other organizations due to a lack of their own grassroots strength.

Taking a direct swipe at Devendra Fadnavis’s previous claim of “adopting” Nashik, Uddhav Thackeray mocked the BJP’s current recruitment strategy. He was speaking at the joint rally with his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.

Uddhav Thackeray challenged the BJP’s Hindutva credentials, accusing them of selective morality. He clarified that his alliance with the Congress was a result of the BJP “stabbing him in the back.

“When BJP aligns with MIM, where does your Hindutva go then?”he asked. Uddhav Thackeray accused the BJP of compromising on ethics to maintain power, claiming the party has become a sanctuary for corrupt individuals. “BJP needs ‘stained’ people to run their party. They are making such people dance on their heads,” he said.

He expressed sympathy for loyal BJP workers, mentioning BJP legislator from Nashik Devyani Farande, suggesting that dedicated cadres are being sidelined for “brokers and outsiders.” Referring to former BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar’s comment that BJP is like Shani Shingnapur (a village where houses have no doors), Uddhav Thackeray retorted, “Indeed, the BJP has no doors.”

Thackeray quipped, “Fadnavis talked about adopting the city, but it seems they need to adopt children in politics too. Because they can’t produce their own leaders, they are stealing our ‘children’ (leaders).” He asserted that while some leaders he “made big” might have defected, the people who actually built the party remain with him. “Our stage is housefull. We have no shortage of loyalists,” he added.

He slammed Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar for bias and the Election Commission for its silence. “If we do not wake up today, we will be forced into slavery,” he warned the crowd. He noted that despite their past differences (with cousin Raj Thackeray) and electoral defeats, Shiv Sena remains undefeated in spirit.

“When we were separate, people asked why we weren’t together. Now that we are together, they ask why we joined forces. We have come together not just for power, but for your development,” he noted.

Reiterating his commitment to the people, Thackeray emphasized that the Thackeray word is a bond. He urged the future corporators to remember that the public looks to them with hope, and appealed the citizens to vote for the combined strength of the Thackeray brothers to secure Nashik’s future.

–IANS

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