Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that in the past the undivided Shiv Sena and the Congress were arch rivals but they never acted out of vengeance against each other. Speaking at a ‘Sadbhavna Diwas’ event organised to mark the birth anniversary of the late Rajiv Gandhi, he also said that central agencies never harassed Shiv Sena leaders even though party founder Bal Thackeray criticised the then prime minister in his speeches.
Uddhav Thackeray, who joined hands with Congress in 2019 after breaking away from the Bharatiya Janata Party, participated in a Congress program for the first time. NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also attended the program. Paying tribute to Rajiv Gandhi, Thackeray said that despite a massive majority of over 400 seats in 1984, he made laws to strengthen Panchayati Raj and decentralize power.
According to PTI, Thackeray said, “Shiv Sena and Congress were staunch opponents, but they never acted with a spirit of vengeance against each other.” Taking a dig at the BJP-led central government, he 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 Income Tax Department ever knocking on the doors of Shiv Sena leaders. Rajiv Gandhi never shied away from facing challenges and he faced them boldly.”
He referred to the steps taken by the former prime minister to tackle militancy in Punjab and northeast India. Taking another dig at the NDA government, he 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 coalition 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 had no objection to joining hands with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (who have different ideologies).
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)