Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction slammed Uddhav Thackeray and his Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday for joining hands with the Congress, a party whom late Bal Thackeray had all along opposed during his life time.
"Mumbai is Hinduhruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray's city and the heart of the Shiv Sena. It is very sad to see that his son now stands helplessly with those whom his father opposed throughout his life. Today Uddhav Thackeray is siding not just with Congress but with corrupt leaders and parties such as Lalu Prasad Yadav, and the Samajwadi Party, and the Congress," said Maharashtra education minister Deepak Kesarkar and senior-most Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar.
"Uddhav Thackeray's alliance with these leaders is a betrayal of Balasaheb's principles. Will Uddhav Thackeray ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise for insulting Swatantryaveer Savarkar? How many leaders attending the INDIA alliance meeting will visit Balasaheb's memorial and pay their respects?" asked Kirtikar and Kesarkar.
While responding to the press conference by the opposition leaders a day before the INDIA alliance meeting, Gajanan Kirtikar said that all these parties are the epitome of dynasty politics. "Of the parties involved in this alliance, 17 are trying to further the cause of dynasty politics. They don't care about the country's development," said Kirtikar. Kesarkar also strongly criticised the alliance and raised questions about Uddhav's role in it.
"Uddhav is now the puppet of Congress. Hinduhruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray opposed the ideology of Congress throughout his life. He once mentioned that he would rather disband his party but would never join hands with the Congress. This was the stance Balasaheb took all his life. Now, Uddhav Thackeray has become a puppet whose strings are in the hands of the Congress. It is unfortunate to see Aaditya Thackeray welcoming Rahul Gandhi, who has repeatedly insulted Swatantryaveer Savarkar during his Bharat Jodo Yatra," said Kirtikar.
Kirtikar further said that Uddhav is allying with leaders from the Samajwadi Party, who ordered firing on the 'Kar Sevaks' and Lalu Prasad Yadav, who stopped L.K. Advani's rath yatra for the cause of Ram Mandir.
"Uddhav has taken all these adverse steps just to secure the chief minister's position for himself. If the BJP had offered him the chief minister's position for five years, would he have broken the alliance? Uddhav should answer this question,” said Kesarkar. He further said: “After the elections, Uddhav had met Modi. They had talked about forming their government after winning the elections. However, his mind changed later because of the allure of the chief minister's post.”
Giving an open challenge to Uddhav, Kesarkar said: “Many among the parties who have come to Mumbai with the greed for power have consistently opposed Balasaheb. If Uddhav holds them in such high regard, he should take all of them to Balasaheb's memorial and make them pay their respects to Hinduhruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray.”
Congress was engaged in blatant corruption during the UPA government, Kesarkar alleged. “This corruption came to light after Anna Hazare's movement. Fearing that if the UPA name is used once again, it will be rejected by people thoroughly, a new name —INDIA—has been coined to shield their corrupt practices. But even if the name has changed, the people in the alliance remain the same. It's nothing more than repackaging old wine into a new bottle,” said Kesarkar.
People, Kirtikar and Kesarkar stated, have rejected the opposition already. "just because some of the opposition leaders were investigated doesn't mean that these actions are undemocratic. If there was no democracy in the country, how would your governments come into power in other states?"asked Kesarkar to the leaders of the INDIA alliance.
"The country is progressing. The common man is happy, and now you are suddenly concerned about democracy. The country and its citizens have already rejected your corrupt alliance," Kesarkar added.