Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray came out all guns blazing against the BJP and its ideological mentor organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Speaking in the Maharashtra Assembly on the motion of thanks on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s address to the joint session of the state legislature, Thackeray did not shy away from attacking Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the latter’s remark over sharing the CM’s chair in the state.
Thackeray said that RSS did not take part in the freedom struggle. He said that Shiv Sena did not exist during the freedom movement but the BJP and RSS also did not take part in the freedom movement. Attacking the RSS and the BJP, Thackeray said that if they are not giving justice to the people after coming to power, then they don’t have the right to say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
The CM also said that Shah has shamelessly been denying the discussion that took place between the BJP and the Shiv Sena in Matoshree on sharing of the chief minister’s post between the two parties before the 2019 state polls.
Attacking the BJP for not abiding by the 2019 promise of equal power-sharing, Thackeray claimed that he had a discussion with Amit Shah in a closed-door meeting in Balasaheb’s room. He said that then CM Devendra Fadnavis was not present in the room. “The things decided inside were denied shamelessly outside. Yes, I am using the word shamelessly deliberately even if it is an unparliamentary word. Is this your Hindutva? Is this your love for late Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray? We consider that room as a temple,” The Indian Express quoted Thackeray as saying.
The CM of Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance criticised the Opposition BJP on a range of issues including not awarding the Bharat Ratna to V D Savarkar, farmers’ protest, rising petrol and diesel prices, not granting classical status to the Marathi language and the standoff over the land for Metro car shed.
Countering the BJP’s allegations of Thackeray government not providing enough assistance to the farmers, the CM said that it’s the BJP who have disconnected electricity and dismantled toilets available for the protesting farmers. He said that the country is not a private property of the BJP but it belongs to the farmers.
Defending his government over allegations of corruption in the handling of COVID-19, Thackeray said that no one should play politics on COVID-19 as the disease does not differentiate between the members of the government and the Opposition party.
