Won’t allow Maharashtra to go in Modi, Shah, Adani’s hands: Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday kick-stared his campaign for the assembly polls, accusing chief minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “looting Mumbai and Maharashtra”.
At the party’s annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar, he said he would not allow Maharashtra to pass into the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and the Adani group. “The assembly election is not a personal fight for me; it will decide the identity of Maharashtra. I will fight till my last breath and will not allow Mumbai and Maharashtra to pass to Modi, Shah and Adani.”
Thackeray said that once the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comes to power, he would build temples of Maratha king, Chhatrapati Shivaji, in every district of Maharashtra. “There should be a Shivaji temple in each state of country. Jai Shivrai is the mantra of Maharashtra.”
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If voted to power, his government would cancel the tender of the Dharavi redevelopment project, he said. Referring to the Shinde-led Mahayuti alliance government, he remarked, “From salt pan lands to the dumping ground, and the Kurla dairy, they are giving all the lands in Mumbai to Adani. I want to ask them if they want to give the mangalsutras of all the women in the state to Adani, or they want to tie a mangalsutra of Adani around Maharashtra’s neck.”
Thackeray took a dig at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, on his statement on the need for Hindu unity for survival. “For 10 years, PM Modi has been ruling the country. If RSS chief Bhagwat thinks Hindus need to unite now, what was the use of 10 years of Modi’s regime?”
Thackeray compared his battle against the BJP and CM Shinde with that of the Mahabharata, and likened his situation to that of Arjuna, forced to fight his own kin to perform his duty. “They were 100 Kauravas and only five Pandavas. The BJP’s arrogance is like that of the Kauravas. Now, as Arjuna had to fight his own people, and as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had to fight his own people in pursuit of swarajya, we have to fight old friends. Friends we gave everything to, who still betrayed us. For the sake of Maharashtra, it is our duty to fight them.”
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Reacting to Amit Shah’s statement on “finishing Thackeray” in the assembly elections, Uddhav said, “They want to finish us. But they don’t know that you are my tiger’s claws. We will bury them in Maharashtra and Bhagava will win. From today, every party worker will turn into the mashaal,” said Thackeray.
Thackeray used Saturday’s rally to send a message to Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud, who is yet to pronounce a verdict on the disqualification of Shiv Sena MLAs, and the Shiv Sena party name and symbol, post the party’s split in 2022. “You still have time to save democracy. Don’t give speeches, take a decision. Nyaya Devata is looking at you. It is unique that three chief justices, who reached the top post due to democracy, could not give justice to democracy,” he said.