The Maharashtra CM was referring to the recent development in which MNS unveiled its newly designed all-saffron flag, rebranding itself as a Hindutva party.
As the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday took out a massive rally in Mumbai demanding eviction of illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi 'infiltrators', his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena chief took a jibe at him by saying that his party doesn't need to change its flag to prove its Hindutva.
The Maharashtra CM was referring to the recent development in which MNS unveiled its newly designed all-saffron flag, rebranding itself as a Hindutva party.
The CM made these comments at a meeting of the party legislators and district presidents.
"I don't have to prove my Hindutva, because it is the Hindutva of late Balasaheb (Thackeray). It is pure. I have not changed the flag of my party. One man, one flag...This is decided. The world knows what our Hindutva is," a Sena functionary quoted the CM as saying during the meeting while replying to a query on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), news agency PTI reported.
He also quoted Uddhav Thackeray as saying that the BJP is not the 'flag-bearer' of Hindutva.
Notably, the battle between Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) over who gets the title of 'Hindutva' ideologue has intensified. MNS' new flag and the Sunday rally are being seen as party's attempt to woo disgruntled Shiv Sena and Hindutva supporters who are unhappy with Sena's decision to come together with the NCP and Congress to form a coalition government in Maharashtra.
Uddhav Thackeray's veiled attack on MNS came on a day when the latter organised a huge march in Mumbai for eviction of Bangladeshi and Pakistani "infiltrators" from India, which culminated in a rally.
Addressing the rally in south Mumbai, Raj Thackeray demanded strict implementation of the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the country.
Raj Thackeray also warned of a "befitting reply" to rallies being held against the CAA and the NRC, and said, "a morcha will be answered with a morcha, a stone with a stone and a sword with a sword".
Through the party mouthpiece 'Saamana', Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, had said that his party had never abandoned Hindutva though it joined ideologically incompatible NCP and Congress to form a government in the state.
In a development that is viewed as his endeavour to fill the Hindutva vacuum, Raj Thackeray had last month replaced the old striped flag of the MNS and re-launched it in a new saffron avatar with the royal seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
(With PTI inputs)
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 "File photo of Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray")
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