During a rally in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, the location of last week's communal clashes in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, a leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) and former Maharashtra chief minister, slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on various issues and also commented on the controversy surrounding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational qualifications.
What's the problem in showing degree?: Thackeray asks PM
Thackeray reminisced about the occasion when his school felicitated him after becoming the state's chief minister and made a pointed remark about Modi, stating that any college would feel honored if one of its alumni became the prime minister of the nation.
“What is the problem in showing a degree?” Uddhav Thackeray
“Why doesn’t that college want to share Modi’s degree? In fact, it should feel proud to show it and say that its student is the prime minister of India. NCP leader Jayant Patil and I studied at the same school, Balmohan Vidya Mandir in Dadar. When I became chief minister, we were both invited to the school. Why doesn’t Modi’s college feel the same pride?” the former Chief Minister said.
Thackeray made his remarks a few days after the Gujarat High Court imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for requesting information about PM Modi's degree from Gujarat University.
Certain political parties orchestrating communal violence: Thackeray
Speaking at the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) first public rally in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar since the Ram Navami riots in the area, Thackeray claimed that certain political parties orchestrated the violence as a tactic to incite communal tensions in the run-up to the elections.
In addition, he hit out at the the Modi government for plotting to overthrow opposition governments in various states and slammed the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance for allegedly exploiting Savarkar's name for their political gathering. On Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena organized a "Savarkar Gaurav Yatra" throughout the state to protest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's continual criticisms of the late Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.
“Savarkar suffered rigorous imprisonment and hardships for the Independence of the country and not to make Modi the prime minister. Will you fulfil Savarkar's dream of 'Akhand Bharat'?" Thackeray asked.
