The Shiv Sainiks, however, were disappointed that their mentor could not turn up to offer them blessing at the function, in spite of Uddhav telling them that he would.
The Shiv Sena celebrated Bal Thackeray’s 84rd birthday at Shanmukhanand Hall in Matunga on Saturday.
The Shiv Sainiks, however, were disappointed that their mentor could not turn up to offer them blessing at the function, in spite of Uddhav telling them that he would.
“He was too exhausted after meeting people for a long time throughout the day at his Bandra residence. Otherwise, he was very much interested in addressing his supporters at the function,” said a party functionary.
Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray criticised their poll ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the independent Vidarbha issue. Coming down heavily on the party, Uddhav said that the BJP should take cognizance of the injustice being done to Marathi-speaking people in the BJP-led Yediurappa government in Karnataka.
Reiterating the party’s opposition for granting statehood to Vidarbha, Uddhav said that an independent status to any region would not solve the problem of backwardness.
“At least, Maharashtra never treated the people of Vidarbha in a step-motherly manner. The Marathi-speaking people in Belgaum and Karwar in Karnataka are facing a hard time and the government there is doing nothing about it,” he added.
Uddhav’s criticism on the party’s ally has raised eyebrows in political circles. Uddhav also dared CM Chavan to talk to the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in Marathi.
“The government talks about speaking to foreign delegates and non-Marathi officials from other states only in Marathi. The CM should start implementing this with his own party boss. He should talk to Sonia in Marathi using an interpreter,” he said.
Uddhav didn’t spare Australian cricketers either, stating that the Sena would not allow them to participate in the IPL because of the attacks on Indians in Australia. “The IPL teams shouldn’t have picked any of the Australian cricketers, in fact,” he said.
Confident after winning the Bhiwandi by-poll on Saturday, Uddhav attributed the victory to the unity of Hindus and Maharashtrians there. Uddhav, while admitting that he had failed to keep his promise of winning a majority in the Assembly election last year, reiterated on his vow of hoisting the saffron flag on the state Assembly next time.
Earlier in the day, Bal Thackeray offered blessings to his followers for almost 20 minutes at his residence. “He walked down to the ground floor of his residence to meet followers. Before that, he came to the balcony, several times, waving hands at supporters gathered near his residence,” a Sena leader said.
Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Ambani were among the well wishers who greeted Thackeray on his birthday. Estranged nephew and MNS chief Raj Thackeray released a video clip to wish Thackeray.
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