In a 50-minute speech, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday made an emotional appeal to the crowd to never doubt his honesty shown while working for the people of Mumbai.
The Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Republican Party of India (RPI) grand-alliance held a rally at the MMRDA grounds at Bandra-Kurla complex. A visibly tired Sena chief, in his longest speech in recent years, went all out against old friend and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.
"I will not mind if you ignore me. But never look at me with suspicion. Your Sena chief will never do anything like that," said Thackeray, while answering to corruption charges made against his party in the functioning of the BMC by Pawar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. "I have never backed down while giving money to the needy people. If corruption has happened, then let me know where the money is. If you know where it is, give me some also," he taunted.
To the surprise of many, the Sena chief targeted Chavan and Pawar and made only a passing comment on the MNS chief. "This man (Chavan) said the Sena will vanish from Mumbai after February 17 (the election result day). Does he have any vanishing cream with him? Ever since Sena started working, there have been 80 organisation with similar names, but none of them sustained, except for us. The CM should keep this in mind," he said.
Attacking his long-time friend, Pawar, he said the NCP chief should not bring out old issues such as name change of Marathwada University. "It was I who suggested that the name should be Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.
Pawar should not spread lies against me," he said.
Making his stand clear on the issue of dynasty politics, he said he had not appointed Uddhav as the executive president of Sena. "It was Raj who proposed the resolution in party conference in Mahabaleshwar. I was not even present there. Even today, Aditya himself has taken the responsibility and is not forced upon the party, like it happens with the Gandhi family," he said.
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