In a 45-minute speech in Maharashtra’s most revered temple town,
Uddhav Thackeray repeatedly asked how can the Sena be expected to partner with
a party that has not kept its promises — on Hindutva and on the agrarian
crisis.
Uddhav Thackeray in Pandharpur,
Monday. (PTI photo)
Ratcheting up his criticism of the BJP-led government at the
Centre, Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav
Thackeray Monday took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by borrowing, for the first
time, the “chowkidar-chor-hai” phrase often invoked by the Congress. The Shiv
Sena has always been a strong BJP ally, though the two fought the Assembly elections
separately in 2014.
Addressing a rally of Shiv Sainiks in the temple town of
Pandharpur, Uddhav recounted a meeting in Beed with a farmer who showed him a
lime tree — normally used to keep off pests — itself getting infested. I told
him, “Halli paharekarich chorya karaylaa laagale aahet. (Today, security
persons have themselves become thieves),” he said. Paharekari is the Marathi
word for chowkidar (in Hindi) or security person.
Uddhav also targeted Modi for what he described as his ‘jumle
baazi’. “The Prime Minister recently said he will help double your income by
2022. Later, after the elections he will say it was jumle baazi,” he said.
He ridiculed the Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat programme, saying
it was being manipulated to highlight the government’s welfare scheme. “This
was proved by a TV channel which exposed it. The journalist was made to lose
his job,” Uddhav said.
While the Sena has been sulking for having been handed over poor
portfolios in the Union Cabinet, Uddhav has upped the ante now for a better
seat-sharing formula, not just for the Lok Sabha polls four months from now but
also for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra due later this year. The latest
jibes come just when the BJP, smarting from its poll setbacks, has made fresh
overtures to the Sena for a pre-poll alliance.
Uddhav claimed that
like Rafale, benefits of thousands of crores of rupees were being extended to
private companies which had no experience in it.
In a 45-minute speech in Maharashtra’s most revered temple town,
exactly one month since he visited Ayodhya, Uddhav repeatedly asked how can the
Sena be expected to partner with a party that has not kept its promises — on
Hindutva and on the agrarian crisis.
For the Assembly, Sena is keen that it gets 50 per cent or 144
seats. The Sena has 63 seats in the 288-strong Maharashtra House. The BJP has
121. Though he said he would not speak about the alliance, Thackeray urged
Sainiks to put in their might to bring a Sena government at the helm. “If
regional parties have come to power in Mizoram and Telangana, why can’t it
happen in Maharashtra,” he said.
Referring to the Rafale “scam,” Uddhav expressed surprise at the
clean chit given by the Supreme Court. “Our soldiers are not getting better pay
hike and here the government is trying to work in the interest of a private
company,” he said, adding the company had no experience of making jets yet the
government handed it the contract.
Alleging that another scam was brewing in the crop insurance
scheme, Uddhav claimed that like Rafale, benefits of thousands of crores of
rupees were being extended to private companies which had no experience in it.
“Then why don’t you hand over bullet making contract to self help groups,” he
quipped.
On the Ram temple, Uddhav said, “People ask me why I went to
Ayodhya. I went there to awaken the Kumbhakaran… If the Kumbhakaran does not
wake up, then fired-up Hindus will awaken him.” Ridiculing the claim of Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, “The UP CM says Ram Mandir tha, Ram
Mandir hai, Ram Mandir rahega…but mandir kub dikhega…”
Uddhav slammed both the Central and state governments over the
plight of farmers. “Show me one farmer who has benefited,” he said, “I will
keep raising my voice for the farmers. If they have the guts, they should
punish me.”
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