Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday didn't attend the virtual meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc citing a scheduled programme.
He said the party had already informed (the opposition bloc) about its inability to attend the meeting.
There shouldn't be any misunderstanding: Uddhav
“There shouldn't be any misunderstanding in this regard. I have expressed my inability to attend the meeting as I had to attend a scheduled programme which involved a lot of moving around. In such a scenario, attending the meeting would have been difficult,” Thackeray said.
Leaders of the bloc met virtually and discussed various aspects of the alliance and the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, due in April-May.
Uddhav holds rally in Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency
Meanwhile, he visited the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency which is represented by Shrikant Shinde, son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Speaking at a rally, he asked people to “bury dynastic politics and traitors”. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's repeated visits to Maharashtra underline the state's importance in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Significantly, CM Shinde cancelled his scheduled visit to Kalyan, which is the Parliamentary constituency of his son, Dr Shrikant.
Referring to Modi's speech at the inauguration of the trans-harbour Atal Setu on Friday, Thackeray noted that the prime minister made critical comments about dynastic politics.
Notably, Thackeray himself belongs to a political family, as his father Bal Thackeray was the founder of the Shiv Sena. Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya was a minister in the previous state government.
It is time we showed traitors their place: Uddhav
“It is time we showed traitors their place,” he further said, taking a swipe at Eknath Shinde who rebelled against Thackeray's leadership in June 2022 and brought down his government.
Modi himself will deny tickets to "traitors", failing which the people of the state will dump them along with the BJP in the dustbin in the coming elections, Thackeray said.
"Use and throw" was the BJP's policy, he alleged.
Thackeray, whose party is a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, also expressed satisfaction at the presence of local leaders and workers of allies Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP in the audience.
Opposition's solidarity was important for saving the country, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Thackeray has invited President Draupadi Murmu to attend the pooja being oranised by his party at the famous Kaluram temple in Nashik on January 22 to coincide with the consecration of the Ramjanambhoomi temple in Ayodhya on the same day by Mr Modi. City BJP chief Ashish Shelar criticised Mr Thackeray for this. ``Obviously Mr Thackeray does not know that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has already invited the President for the Ayodhya event.
(With inputs from PTI)
