Undeterred by the Eknath Shinde-led coup, the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and the Election Commission’s move to freeze the party name and symbol,
Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday claimed that he was not shy of fighting and challenging the Shinde camp and BJP to settle scores on the field. ‘’I am ready to fight any battle especially when the people and also the NCP and Congress are with me. This is a war to be fought by everyone as it is s second war for the country’s freedom,’’ said Uddhav in his speech at the function to celebrate the 75th birthday of a veteran NCP leader and Samata Parishad founder Chhagan Bhujbal.
The function turned out to be a mini gathering of like-minded parties including NCP, Shiv Sena, Congress, National Conference, Janata Dal (U) and DMK. The leaders in their speeches emphasised the need to jointly fight the communal forces and contribute to the nation-building weathering all crises. Incidentally, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and union Minister Ramdas Athavale skipped the function while Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot could not make it due to illness.
Uddhav, who rose to his legs minutes after the Bombay High Court order asking the BMC to issue a letter to Rutuja Latke for accepting her resignation by 11 am on Friday, said they had to approach the court to get BMC approval for Shivaji Park for holding Dussehra rally and now for acceptance of Ms Latke’s resignation. He referred to the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi after the 2019 assembly election with the initiative of NCP chief Sharad Pawar and adding that it did not work due to few people. However, he said is prepared to weather any storm with leaders like Pawar and others.
Uddhav recalled that Bhujbal’s decision to quit Shiv Sena hurt the Thackeray family in particular and said had he not left the party he would have become the Chief Minister. This was in response to NCP leader Ajit Pawar’s statement that had the NCP got more time after its formation in 1999 Bhujbal would become the state CM.
The leader of the opposition Ajit Pawar said Uddhav Thackeray should have sought the help of Chhagan Bhujbal when Shiv Sena’s 15 legislators defected from the party. ‘’Bhujbal is the master of handling such situations. Had you contacted him, you could have still been the CM of Maharashtra,’’ he added while referring to Bhujbal’s role to bring back few Congress legislators that saved the Vilasrao Deshmukh government in the past.
I am an Indian Muslim, not Chinese Muslim": Farooq Abdullah takes a dig at the Centre
J&K former chief minister Farooq Abdullah took a dig at the Centre over mistreatment to Muslims in the country. ‘’We are with you. We have to keep the country as one, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. I am a Muslim, but an Indian Muslim. I am not a Chinese Muslim," said Mr Abdullah.
‘’Everyone may be different. But together we can build this country. That is called friendship. Religions don't teach people to hate each other...This is Hindustan. It belongs to everyone," said Mr Abdullah. He added, ‘’Arrogance killed Ravana. People like him are here too. Those people are not going to build the nation, but it is you and me who will build the nation.’’
Accepting different ideologies is India, says Javed Akhtar
Leading lyricist Javed Akhtar said he is not a politician but when communal forces rise it is the duty of every citizen to say that they oppose these forces. ‘’India has a democracy. Its roots are so strong that even those who want to uproot them still cannot do it. Democracy survived here because we always listened to others, accepted others’ points of view. We never used to call someone anti national. Accepting different ideologies is India,’’ he noted.
‘’Elections are not important. But what is important is we have to decide where we want to go,’’ said Akhtar.
