Days after Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari’s Gujarati remarks, the BJP national president JP Nadda’s purported statement at the party meeting at Patna that only BJP will remain in the country and all other political parties will be destroyed sparked a major controversy. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray lashed out at Nadda saying that it shows BJP’s true face and its march towards dictatorship. He accused the BJP ruling of conspiring to finish off regional outfits.
On the other hand, Thackeray slammed the BJP over the arrest of Sena MP Sanjay Raut by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case and hailed the Rajya Sabha MP as a "true Shiv Sainik" who did not succumb to pressure.
Thackeray, who is battling for the party’s survival after Eknath Shinde led a rebellion, challenged Nadda to finish Shiv Sena. ‘’Nadda says Shiv Sena is on the verge of extinction in Maharashtra. The BJP president claims that the NCP is the party of family, Congress is the party of brothers and sisters and BJP wants to fight against the dynastic rule but the important question is what exactly is the BJP’s clan as many leaders from Congress, NCP and other parties are joining BJP,’’ he said.
Thackeray said, ‘’The BJP is conspiring to finish off regional parties. The mask is off. I had thanked (Governor Bhagat Singh) Koshiyari that you inadvertently brought the dream of crushing Marathi manoos out before us. Similarly, the BJP president has also revealed they do not want other parties to exist in the country and want dictatorship.’’ However, he challenged BJP to finish Shiv Sena.
Terming Nandda’s statement ‘’dangerous and serious,’’ Thackeray observed that his comments indicate taking the country towards dictatorship and autocracy. The politics today is distressing. He said the way BJP is spreading its wings, it is only using force and not the brains.
‘’If only you have strength and want to finish off others then time does not remain the same all the time. It changes. When time changes, the BJP and Nadda must think what will happen to them," he warned.
On Raut’s arrest
Thackeray praised Raut saying that he did not succumb to any pressure. ‘’Sanjay Raut is a hardcore Shiv Sainik of Shiv Sena formed by my father and the only HinduHruday Samrat Bal Thackeray. I am proud of Sanjay Raut who is my best friend,’’ he added.
‘’What crime has he committed? He is a journalist, Shiv Sainik is fearless,'' noted Thackeray.
Thackeray slammed BJP for suppressing the voices of opponents by playing vendetta politics and asked where democracy was if the central probe agencies were deployed against opponents.. ‘’Sanjay Raut could have jumped ship but he had clearly said that he would die but won’t surrender,’’ he said. ‘’Those who switched sides (Shiv Sena rebels) have gone for a bath in the 'Hamam' and till the time the foam of power is over their body, they can criticise us. But they will realise the situation in the future,’’ he opined.
