At the Azad Maidan Dussehra event, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took a swipe at Uddhav Thackeray and said true Shiv Sainiks don't leave their ground or ideology.
Balasaheb Thackeray gave the slogan to say with pride that we are Hindu but some people are shy to say it now, said Shinde.
#WATCH | Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde addresses Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/5UkP8C7iYs
— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2024
"A true Shiv Sainik doesn't leave his ground or ideology...We freed Shiv Sena from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)," he said in an apparent reference to Shiv Sena's alliance with Congress.
While speaking at the event, he also added, "If we hadn't taken that step, true Shiv Sainiks would have been degraded. After coming to power, we have made Maharashtra number 1 in investments and FDI," Shinde added.
Shinde had staged a coup in June 2022, dividing the Shiv Sena into two factions--supporters of Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde. Shinde's move led to the fall of the MVA government in Maharashtra and the dethroning of Uddhav Thackeray as CM.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, both the Shiv Sena factions held Dussehra rallies in a massive show of strength.
Uddhav Thackeray slams BJP at the rally
While addressing the Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park in Dadar, Uddhav attacked the BJP and compared the party to “Kauravas”.
“Parted ways with BJP as I don't believe in its version of Hindutva...BJP should be ashamed of calling itself Bharatiya, it no longer belongs to people,” he said. He also added that he never abandoned his father Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology.
While launching an attack on RSS, Uddhav said it should introspect whether it agrees with today's 'hybrid' BJP.
Uddhav also paid homage to the late Ratan Tata at the rally. The Tata Group gave India slat, but some industrialists are taking away Mumbai’s saltpan lands, he said.
"Ratan Tata once told me that JRD Tata trusted him after seeing his work, and then handed over his legacy.
The RSS should think whether today's "hybrid BJP" is acceptable to it, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday, addressing his party's annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park here.
Targeting his former ally ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra, Thackeray said the BJP should be ashamed of calling itself "Bharatiya."
He also promised to build temples of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in every district of the state after coming to power.
