Now govt is formed through 'khokas': Uddhav

Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday questioned the need to "steal" the Nationalist Congress Party if the Maharashtra government is already enjoying the majority as claimed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

He said the "one nation, one party" plan of the saffron party would not be accepted and claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma has faded which was seen in the recently-held Karnataka assembly elections.

Thackeray also claimed he had been left with no option but to join hands with the NCP and Congress after the 2019 polls as Union Home Minister Amit Shah had refused to keep the agreement of sharing the chief minister's post between BJP and Shiv Sena (undivided).

He embarked on a two-day tour of Vidarbha region to reach out to Shiv Sena-UBT workers.

Addressing a rally at Digras in Yavatmal district, Thackeray referred to nine MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party including Ajit Pawar joining the Maharashtra government and questioned the need to "steal" the NCP if the government enjoys majority as claimed by the BJP.

Digras is the home turf of Shiv Sena MLA and state minister Sanjay Rathod, who is aligned with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

“One nation, one law can be understood. But we will never accept one nation, one party plan of the BJP”, Thackeray said.

He said 40 MLAs of Shiv Sena went to the BJP (last year) along with some independent legislators.

In an apparent reference to the recent induction of nine MLAs of NCP in the Shiv Sena-BJP government including Ajit Pawar, the former chief minister the BJP has now become a party of riff-raff.

“We have seen some MLAs jumping from one party to another ahead of elections. However, swallowing a party has to be stopped. In a democracy, every party should be allowed to express their views even though they are political opponents,” Thackeray said.

He said there was a time when a new government used to be formed through ballot papers, "but now the new government is formed through 'khokas' (boxes of money)”.

“PM Modi in Madhya Pradesh said that a Rs 70,000 crore scam took place in Maharashtra and blamed it on the Nationalist Congress Party.

"Within a few days, an NCP (section) joined the Maharashtra government. Now leaders of the NCP will share their photos with the prime minister. What sort of Hindutva is this?” he asked.

Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Thackeray said had the BJP respected the "decision" taken before the 2019 Maharashtra polls on sharing of the chief minister's post, BJP workers would not have been required to carry "carpets" of other parties now.

"Sharing of the chief ministerial post was decided between me and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah before the 2019 state Assembly elections.

"Today, the BJP and Shiv Sena chief ministers would have completed their tenure. If that had been done, the old BJP workers would have not been required to pick up the carpets of other parties," he said.

At the rally in Digras, Thackeray repeated his claim.

"After the Maharashtra assembly elections in 2019, he (Shah) refused to admit this decision (on a rotational post of the chief minister), prompting me to join hands with the NCP and the Congress,” Thackeray claimed.

To a query on the BJP's criticism that he went to 'Mantralaya' (state secretariat) only twice when he was the chief minister but now embarking on the Vidarbha tour, Thackeray said the BJP is not competent to say anything.

"BJP should stop levelling allegations against others and handle those they have taken along with them. I do not think the BJP deserves anything to be said about it. It has no right to preach to us. I am just waiting to see how the BJP handles the new riff-raff,” he said.

Commenting on the pleas seeking disqualification of the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, Thackeray said the Supreme Court has already given a framework to the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker.

"The Speaker will have to decide on the disqualification issue within the given framework. If he tries to bypass it, the Supreme Court's doors are always open for us,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Saturday said notices have been issued to 40 MLAs of CM Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 14 of the Uddhav Thackeray faction including his son Aaditya Thackeray, seeking their replies on disqualification petitions against them.

"The Speaker will have to decide on the disqualification issue within the given framework. If he tries to bypass it, the Supreme Court's doors are always open for us,” Thackeray said.

He also took a swipe at the Centre over the violence in Manipur, saying the government should send officials of Income Tax, ED and CBI to the north-eastern state and try to "silence those people like these teams do in other parts of India.

"Send them there and establish peace in Manipur,” he said.

Speaking on the Uniform Civil Code, Thackeray said the Union government comes up with new issues every time and tries to divert the attention of people from existing controversies that could potentially affect it.

In Amravati, Shiv Sena-UBT workers on Sunday pulled down posters of local MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana on the eve of Thackeray's visit to the city.

The Rana couple has said they would recite Hanuman Chalisa at Girls High School square in Amravati on Monday and their supporters had put up posters informing about it.

In retaliation, workers of Yuva Swabhiman Party of Ravi Rana tore posters of Thackeray put up by the Shiv Sena-UBT near Jaistambh Square and the government guest house, where the former CM is staying overnight.