Uddhav kicked off his party's campaign for the BMC polls on Saturday and alleged that the BJP was trying to divide Maharashtra.
Reaching out to non-Maharashtrian voters over issues like demonetization of high-value currency notes and the BJP going “soft” on Hindutva, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray warned of dire consequences if the BJP tried to divide Maharashtra.
Without naming his estranged cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who had offered to ally with the Sena in the BMC elections, Uddhav said they did not want to enter into any tie-ups after snapping their pre-poll alliance with the BJP.
“This is not a friendly match. You have lost a true friend who stood by you in difficult times,” Uddhav warned BJP president Amit Shah. Kicking off the party’s campaign on Saturday evening for the BMC elections, where the Shiv Sena has decided to go solo, Uddhav said late Sena chief Bal Thackeray had supported Prime Minister (and then Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
He also attacked BJP leaders including Shah and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Uddhav added that traders and goldsmiths had faced tax raids before and after demonetisation and were returning to the Shiv Sena’s fold after being disillusioned with the BJP, whom they had voted for in the 2014 assembly polls. Addressing the rally in the Maharashtrian heartland of Girgaum, which has a growing presence of non-Marathi voters, Uddhav spurred the audience to repeat the slogan “Ek Hi Bhool Kamal Ka Phool” (Voting for the BJP was a blunder). He also spoke of the Sena’s role in “protecting” the non-Maharashtrians during the 1992- 93 communal riots in Mumbai.
Attempting to reach out to the core Hindutva constituency of its senior ally in the government, Uddhav also accused the BJP of diluting its Hindutva stance and cosying up to Pakistan and added that the Shiv Sena had differences on this.
“Will you vote for those who want to break a unified Maharashtra?” questioned Uddhav, warning of intense retribution in case attempts to sever Mumbai or Vidarbha from the state were made.
While the BJP is targeting the Shiv Sena on the issue of transparency in the country’s richest civic body, Uddhav pointed to how the Centre’s Economic Survey 2016-17 had placed the BMC at the top in terms of transparency and accountability.
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