Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that the undivided Shiv Sena and the Congress were bitter rivals in the past but they never acted with a spirit of “vengeance” against each other. Speaking at a ‘Sadbhavna Diwas’ programme organised to mark the birth anniversary of the late Rajiv Gandhi, he said, “Central agencies never harassed Shiv Sena leaders even though party founder Bal Thackeray criticised the then prime minister in his speeches.”
Uddhav Thackeray, who broke away from the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined hands with the Congress in 2019, has attended a Congress event for the first time. NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were also present in this program.
‘I don’t remember that…’
Paying tribute to Rajiv Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray said, “Despite having an overwhelming majority of over 400 seats in 1984, he made laws to strengthen Panchayati Raj and decentralise power.”
Thackeray, while attacking the Modi government at the Centre, said, “Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had strongly criticised Rajiv Gandhi (when Gandhi was the Prime Minister) but I do not remember the CBI, ED or the Income Tax Department knocking on the doors of Shiv Sena leaders.”
The opposition often accuses the Narendra Modi government of misusing central investigative agencies against its political opponents. Uddhav Thackeray also said that Rajiv Gandhi never backed down from tackling challenges and faced them boldly. Thackeray mentioned the steps taken by the former prime minister to deal with insurgency in Punjab and Northeast India.
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‘Recourse to power jihad…’
Launching yet another attack on the NDA government, Uddhav Thackeray said, “But (now the attitude is that) let Manipur and Kashmir burn.” Thackeray also accused the BJP of resorting to ‘power jihad’. He said the opposition managed to reduce the strength of the BJP-led alliance in the Lok Sabha in the general elections, but the ruling alliance must be defeated decisively in the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Thackeray said the BJP accused him of abandoning Hindutva to ally with the Congress, but the saffron party has no objection in joining hands with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (who have different ideologies).
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Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)