Maharashtra Cheif Minister Uddhav Thackeray slams BJP rhetoric in blistering attack

Maharashtra Cheif Minister Uddhav Thackeray slams BJP rhetoric in blistering attack

Questions former ally's decision to not award Veer Savarkar a Bharat Ratna, retorts TO charges of giving up on Hindutva ideology

Sanjay JogUpdated: Wednesday, March 03, 2021, 11:52 PM IST
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The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday took a swipe at BJP for renaming the Motera Stadium in Gujarat after Prime Minister Narendra Modi by erasing the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He lashed out at the BJP-led government at the Centre for not awarding Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar and elite language status to Marathi. In a blistering attack against BJP, Thackeray said it has no right to ask the government why Aurangabad has not been renamed as Sambhaji Nagar.

"Someone said now we won't be losing any cricket matches because the name of the stadium has been changed. We won't be losing any match in that stadium... You erase the name of Vallabh Bhai (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel), do not award Bharat Ratna to Savarkar (Veer Savarkar), and try to teach Hindutva to us," Thackeray said.

He was replying to a discussion on the Governor's address in the state assembly.

Thackeray also retorted BJP’s charge that he and Shiv Sena had given up Hindutva ideology for sharing power with the NCP and Congress. ‘’Don’t need to learn Hindutva from you,’’ he said.

"You don't give Bharat Ratna to Savarkar and you preach us about renaming?" the chief minister said, adding that Aurangabad will definitely be renamed.

He asked the opposition party who created roadblocks in Maharashtra's proposal to rename the Aurangabad airport after Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Thackeray also attacked the Centre over the ongoing farmers' protest. "Farmers are in trouble there (Punjab). Their power & water supplies have been cut off & nails put in their path. But they run away when they see China. If this kind of preparation was made at borders with China or Bangladesh, infiltration won't happen," he said.

Attacking the BJP and the RSS, Thackeray said, "(Shiv) Sena was not a part of the freedom struggle but neither was your parent organisation (RSS). Just chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' doesn't make you (BJP) a patriot."

Further, Thackeray in a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while the Centre announced a lockdown and asked people to beat thalis, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government provided full meals to the needy people during the pandemic crisis. “While people were asked to beat ‘thalis’, we provided full ‘thalis’ (full meals) to people,” he noted.

“During the Covid-19 lockdown, we helped people reach their homes. In fact, people praised us after reaching their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” he said.

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