At Dussehra rallies, Uddhav, Shinde spar over Hindutva

The respective Dussehra rallies of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray were once again about whose version of Hindutva is genuine and who is the true inheritor of party patriarch Bal Thackeray's legacy.

While Shinde, addressing the rally at south Mumbai's Azad Maidan, said the revolt he led freed Shiv Sena from 'those who betrayed the ideals of Balasaheb Thackeray', Uddhav Thackeray said at his rally in at Shivaji Park that he broke off the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party as he did not approve of its version of Hindutva

While Shinde said there was now no difference between the Uddhav's Shiv Sena-UBT and Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the Sena-UBT chief asked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh whether it found today's 'hybrid' BJP acceptable.

Uddhav said he did not abandon the ideology of his father.

"I have respect for the RSS and (its chief) Mohan Bhagwat. Bhagwat says Hindus should unite for self-protection. For whom are you saying all this when the BJP government is in power for ten years and has been given another mandate? Should Hindus still feel unsafe?" Thackeray said.

"I want to tell the RSS which is entering its centenary year, have a 'chintan shibir' (brainstorming meet) and introspect if you agree with the present-day BJP which has become a hybrid. It has leaders from other political parties. It wants crutches of traitors to finish me off," he further said.

"I did not give up Balasaheb Thackeray's ideals, but only parted ways with the BJP because I don't agree with its version of Hindutva," said Thackeray who ended the alliance with the saffron party in 2019 and became Maharashtra chief minister with the support of Congress and undivided Nationalist Congress Party.

Sena workers were the 'wagh-nakh' (tiger-claws, a Chhatrapati Shivaji-era weapon) he got from Bal Thackeray, Uddhav said, adding 'how can they (BJP) destroy me'.

"I could not have survived if you had not been with me," he added.

Referring to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud's remark about being anxious as to how history would judge his tenure, Thackeray said, "You should know that the time is now. Take decisions to save democracy. Our case is still pending, and three chief justices have come and gone. I will speak after you retire."

He was referring to the litigation related to the split in the Shiv Sena caused by Eknath Shinde's exit in June 2022 and the fall of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The Sena-UBT chief who has been pressing his allies Congress and NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar to announce the MVA's chief ministerial face, played a video clip of his oath-taking as chief minister in 2019, and asked the party cadres if he did not adhere to the oath.

He then asked party workers to swear on oath again that they will stay loyal to the party's 'Mashal' (flaming torch) symbol and bring a 'Shiv Shahi government' as envisaged by late Bal Thackeray.

Uddhav read out the oath which said they will never allow Maharashtra to fall in the hands of the BJP.

After his government comes to power, he will construct temples of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in every district of the state, the former chief minister said, while slamming the present Eknath Shinde-led government for the "hasty construction of a statue of Shivaji" on Rajkot fort in Malvan for votes.

"They did get votes, but the statue collapsed in eight months," he said.

The BJP should realise that Shivaji Maharaj was not an Electronic Voting Machine, Thackeray said in a further jibe, alluding to the opposition's allegations that EVMs can be compromised.

He described the Shinde government's decision to confer the status of 'Rajya Mata' (state mother) on the indigenous cow as a ploy to divert attention from issues like inflation.

"Recently a Hindu boy was killed on suspicion of carrying cow meat. But Union minister Kiren Rijiju proudly says he is a beef eater," he said.

The BJP should be ashamed to call itself Bharatiya and it does not belong to the people, he said, while also claiming that he was fighting the save Maharashtra from the saffron party.

Notably, Sena-UBT leaders Sanjay Raut, Sushma Andhare and Bhaskar Jadhav who spoke before him described Thackeray as the future chief minister.

Slamming the Shinde government, he said nearly 1,600 decisions were taken in just 11 days.

"When our government comes to power, we will scrap most of the decisions which favour builders and contractors and harm the people," he added.

"I will not allow Maharashtra and Mumbai to go to Adani....we will scrap the Dharavi redevelopment project (being executed by Adani group) if it sends Dharavi residents to saltpan lands. We will give police, mill workers homes in Dharavi," Thackeray said.

Thackeray's son and former minister Aaditya Thackeray made his maiden speech at the party's Dussehra rally.

Meanwhile, Shinde said in a direct fight between Shiv Sena and rival Shiv Sena-UBT on 13 Lok Sabha seats, his party won seven.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the Shiv Sena contested 15 seats and won seven, while the Sena-UBT contested 21 and won only nine.

Shinde said his party's strike rate was 47 per cent as against 42 per cent of the Sena-UBT.

"MVA's Lok Sabha success was accidental and not permanent," he asserted.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi won 30 of the 48 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, while the NDA won only 17.

Shinde, who led a revolt along with 39 MLAs in 2022 leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government under Thackeray, said, "We freed Shiv Sena from those who betrayed Balasaheb's ideals."

"Everyone knows whose votes led to your victory. Iqbal Musa, bomb blast accused, took part in campaigning. Pakistan's flag can be seen in your campaign trails. Congratulations to the votes you got after abusing (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah and abandoning Hindutva," he said.

"There is no difference between MIM (AIMIM) and Sena UBT," Shinde alleged, alluding to the Muslim votes which the Sena UBT bagged in the Lok Sabha polls.

Shinde's speech singularly targeted his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray on a range of issues from governance to politics.

When Thackeray was the chief minister he only wanted the eligible residents of Dharavi to be rehabilitated (as part of the redevelopment project), Shinde claimed.

After he became CM, a decision was taken to rehabilitate all 2.10 lakh residents of Dharavi, Shinde said.

The Sena-UBT has been alleging irregularities in the multi-billion Dharavi redevelopment project.

"You were in power for 25 years but never prioritised people's happiness. You built bungalow after bungalow while Dharavi's residents remained in slums," Shinde said.

The MVA applied breaks to infrastructure projects in Mumbai and Maharashtra, which he "uprooted", Shinde asserted.

"We are not the ones who do Facebook Live but work face to face," Shinde said, adding Thackeray cannot mask his inactivity under the guise of COVID-19 pandemic.

Shinde also accused Thackeray of corruption in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which the latter controlled for 25 years, as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, leaders from Delhi would come to Matoshree (the residence of the Thackerays in Bandra) to meet Bal Thackeray, but Uddhav Thackeray went to the national capital urging other parties to make him the chief minister of Maharashtra.

When allies don't want Thackeray as the CM then how will Maharashtra accept him, Shinde jibed.