The Dasara rallies in Maharashtra saw a face-off between Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde group) leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. While Mr. Thackeray’s group firmly pitched him as the CM candidate for the coming State Assembly election, Mr. Shinde took a jibe on him for his Chief Ministerial aspiration. “Your own allies can’t stand your face. How will the people of Maharashtra accept you?” he asked during his Dasara speech at Azad Maidan, warning Mr. Thackeray to not trifle with him.
Mr. Thackeray also appealed to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to introspect in the organisation’s centenary year on whether it agreed with the BJP’s way of finishing off his Shiv Sena. He claimed that the BJP was doing ‘power jihad’, and wanted to retain power at any cost. He promised to build temples of Chhatrapati Shivaji in each district of the State if voted to power, and slammed the BJP over its Hindutva, which allegedly kept one group fighting against another. Referring to Badlapur rape accused Akshay Shinde only with his last name, Mr. Thackeray hailed the way he was shot dead, but asked the government to clarify if it was done to protect those in power.
This Dasara was also the first time when Aaditya Thackeray gave a speech at Shivaji Park during the rally.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Mr. Thackeray said: “This election is a battle which defines the identity of Maharashtra. I will not let them plunder Maharashtra till I am alive. This is Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar’s Maharashtra. I won’t let it become Modi, Shah, Adani’s Maharashtra.”
During his 49-minute speech at Shivaji Park, he also showed a video clip of the oath he had taken as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in November 2019, administering a fresh oath to all the Shiv Sainiks present at the rally to “bring Shivshahi in Maharashtra with the same torch”. (Torch is the party symbol of Shiv Sena UBT). The message is a clear signal to not just the ruling Mahayuti, but also to Maha Vikas Aghadi, particularly to Congress which has said that the party with the maximum number of seats will get the CM position.
This Dasara rally was different for more than one reasons. This was the first time when Eknath Shinde spoke before Uddhav Thackeray. A confident Eknath Shinde, pepped up after the Haryana results, warned against being trifled, and reiterated the reason for the alleged ‘rebellion’ in the Shiv Sena party. He read a list of schemes which his government had brought for the people, claiming that swift governance was the result of his leadership.
This was also the first time when Aaditya Thackeray spoke during the Dasara rally. Since the time he took over the reigns of Yuva Sena, he had never spoken at the Dasara rally. “I am overcome with so many memories. Every year, since my childhood, I used to sit here, on the grass, to listen to my grandfather. In the same maidan, I heard my father. For the last 14 years, I have never given a speech on this stage. There has been a tradition in the family that the son doesn’t speak in front of the father. My father never spoke in front of his father. And today, though I am speaking, I will stop my speech as soon as my father arrives here,” Mr. Aaditya said. He slammed the government claiming that an official had told him that the “code of conduct won’t come into being till the wishes of Adani are fulfilled”.
Also read | Adani Power deal: Congress slams Mahayuti govt. in Maharashtra; calls it a ‘Modani Enterprise’
Message to RSS
“I want to ask Bhagwatji, who are you saying this for? Hindus should come together for self-protection. Vishwaguru has been sitting there for 10 years now. Can he still not protect the Hindus after so many years? You protect yourself. If that is the message, why do you need Modi? If you still say Hindus are under threat, Congress was better because it said Islam is under threat. The Shiv Sena pramukh who supported you, his son sat as the CM and you pulled him down. You take backstabbers with you to run a government. You should introspect what you did in 100 years. Do you agree with the current BJP? Today’s BJP is hybrid. Other parties’ leaders have entered BJP. And that BJP will rule us now?” Mr. Uddhav Thackeray asked.
Targets Adani
Uddhav Thackeray hit out at industrialist Gautam Adani and claimed that the Maharashtra government had given several free land parcels to the Adanis. He also promised that he will cancel the Dharavi redevelopment project if he came to power. Drawing parallels between Ratan Tata and Adani, he said some industrialists are remembered for what they did for the country, but some only take away everything.
“It has become very rare that people feel bad after an industrialist passes away. He gave us Tata Salt. But today’s industrialists are eating up salt pans. (Reference to salt pan land being given for the rehabilitation of those affected by Dharavi redevelopment project). Chandrapur mines, Bandra reclamation land, schools, land parcels at dahisar check naka, at mulund check naka. What has not been given to Adani? We have earned this Mumbai after spilling our blood. Adani hasn’t gifted it to us. If Modi says, Mangalsutra, taps will be taken and given to Muslims, I want to ask Maharashtra government, will you tie Adani mangalsutra on us? We will not allow Mumbai, Maharashtra to be handed over to Adani,” he said.
Eknath Shinde slams Uddhav over Hindutva
Targeting Uddhav Thackeray over the core ideology of Hindutva, Eknath Shinde said: “Some people have started feeling allergic to the word ‘Hindu’ now. We don’t feel ashamed to utter this word. But the worthless people who took birth in Thackeray family, have betrayed Hindutva. Today, we are free. This is the free Shiv Sena, taking up its original ideology of Hindutva. When our government was formed, people had claimed that this government will fall in a fortnight, in a month, in a few months. But this Eknath, your Eknath has survived it all and has completed two years in power. Don’t trifle with me. I don’t run away from the battlefield. I will make you run away. I am a hardcore Shivsainik.”
He claimed that Uddhav Thackeray had stalled several developmental projects as the CM, and had failed to bring progress to the State. “Why did we form this government? Do I need to tell you? We rebelled against injustice. If we wouldn’t have rebelled, the real Shiv Sainik would have been insulted, humiliated. Maharashtra would have gone back by a few years. Today, we lead on all fronts. We are the first State to give ₹12,000 to each farmer. Ten lakh brothers have been given free training. We are the first State to do this. Our sisters wouldn’t have got justice. Government wouldn’t have come to your doorstep. Bullet train, Jalyukta Shivar, Marathwada water grid — speedbreakers to all the projects during their time. We uprooted the government which put speedbreakers for everything. They don’t like my beard. But it is the magic of this beard that the MVA was uprooted,” he said.
He also criticised Uddhav Thackeray over his Opposition to Adani and to Dharavi redevelopment project. “You are trying to stop Dharavi project. You construct bungalows, one after the other. But let people languish in marshlands,” he said.
Taking a jibe at him, he referred to Mr. Thackeray as ‘Moru’. “If we wouldn’t have rebelled, what would have been the story of Maharashtra? Moru would have woken up, freshened up and would have gone to sleep again. Today, the same Moru goes to Delhi, seeking CM position, meeting others for this. There was a time when Delhi leaders used to come to Mumbai to meet Balasaheb. But someone goes to Delhi to seek CM position. Your own allies don’t like your face. How will Maharashtra like it?”
Comparing the Union government to Mohammad Shah Abdali, Uddhav Thackeray claimed that Modi and Shah were trying to finish him off. He also asked Mohan Bhagwat to introspect on whether RSS was fine with the way the current BJP leadership was trying to finish off him and his party. “Our battle is like Mahabharat now. BJP is like the Kauravs. They think, no other party should exist. Only one party should exist. You tried to finish us? My own people, those I had trusted, have stood against me. Bhagwad Gita was told by Lord Shri Krishna. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj followed it,” he said.
Published – October 13, 2024 01:31 am IST