PM should focus on Pakistan and China, not just elections: Uddhav

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said the Narendra Modi-led Union government should focus on the conflict with China and Pakistan, instead of concentrating on elections.

In the second part of his three-part interview in the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece, Saamana, Thackeray said, “You can win elections in the country at any point of time. In fact, you already have. But war is war. You have China in front of you. In this much time, you haven’t been able to resolve the tension in Kashmir.”

Thackeray said the government may be neglecting threats from Pakistan and China probably because several leaders in internal BJP meetings have singled out Shiv Sena as the party’s top rival.

“If they think Shiv Sena is their most significant rival over Pakistan and China, it is their misfortune, not mine,” he said.

“The country’s internal environment is not good. There is the issue of beef and cow protection and the violence that is taking place in the name of it. If that too escalates, on how many fronts are you going to fight?” the Sena chief said.

In the interview, the Sena chief said his party, which is a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre and a part of the Devendra Fadnavisled Maharashtra government, will stay with the BJP till the differences become absolutely unbearable.

He said he set his ego aside and extended support to the BJP government in Maharashtra only because after a long time people had given their mandate to a non-Congress government.