Uddhav: Shah’s denial of CM post promise ‘shameless’
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday directly attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. Thackeray had so far refrained from speaking negatively about Modi and Shah and had left that task to his deputies in Shiv Sena.
However, while speaking in the state Assembly on the Governor’s speech, the Chief Minister raised questions about the PM fund and alleged that anyone questioning it is labelled as a “traitor”. He also accused Shah of lying about the assurance given to him about the chief minister’s post and said that the BJP leader is “shameless”.
Reacting to Thackeray’s speech, the leader of opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said that the CM still doesn’t understand the difference between the speech in Chowk and speech in Assembly.
Referring to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Thackeray said, “What is your (BJP) mother’s institution’s (RSS) contribution during the independence struggle? Therefore, you (the BJP) don’t have the right to say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.”
Slamming the BJP leadership for not keeping the promises made to him during a closed door room meeting at Matoshri in 2019, Thackeray said, “How you (Amit Shah) shamelessly denied what was discussed in Balasaheb’s (Thackeray) room. Shameless is an unparliamentary word. But there isn’t more apt for this.”
Asking why the Union government has not conferred Bharat Ratna on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the Hindutva ideologue, Thackeray said in the Assembly that the BJP should not teach Hindutva to its former ally, the Shiv Sena.
“Letters were sent (to the Centre) twice, seeking Bharat Ratna for Savarkar. Who confers Bharat Ratna? It is the right of the prime minister and a committee,” Thackeray said.
The BJP has been targeting the Shiv Sena chief for “giving up” his Hindutva ideology for sharing power with the NCP and Congress. Among other things, it has questioned the ‘delay’ in renaming Aurangabad in central Maharashtra, named for the Mughal emperor, as Sambhajinagar.
“You don’t give Bharat Ratna to Savarkar and you preach us about renaming?” the chief minister said, adding that Aurangabad will definitely be renamed.