Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday mouthed the Congress' oft-repeated jibe of chowkidar chor hai (the guard is a thief) made in the context of the Rafale fighter jet deal to mount a veiled attack on his senior ally -- the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been repeatedly hurling the chowkidar chor hai jibe at Modi to claim irregularities and favouritism in the Rafale deal and award of offset contracts related to the Rs 58,000-crore defence agreement with France. However, the government has rejected the charges.
Addressing a rally in Pandharpur in Maharashtra's Solapur district, Thackeray used the slogan in a different context while narrating an incident.
Thackeray said, "In one of the state tours, a farmer showed me a pest-infested lime tree. The lime tree is actually used to make pesticides but this was a plant that was infested with pest.
"The farmer told me that for the first time in his lifetime, he had seen a lime tree getting infested, which they have been using to make pesticides. I had told him that now, days have changed. Security persons have become thieves."
"Halli paharekarich chorya karaylaa laagale aahet. (Today, security persons have themselves become thieves)," he said in Marathi.
Paharekari is a Marathi equivalent of the Hindi word chowkidar.
Thackeray, whose outfit is part of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and also in Maharashtra, did not take any names, but the significance of his comments was not lost on anyone.
Thackeray and his party have been often criticising the BJP and its top leaders, including Modi, on a range of issues. However, this was perhaps for the first time a BJP ally has publicly made the chowkidar chor hai taunt.
The origin of this line dates back to the run-up of the 2014 general elections when Modi had promised to work as a 'chowkidar' to guard the people's money and their trust once elected to the top office.
At the rally, Thackeray also said "There have been several allegations over the Rafale fighter jet deal and I do not know how the Supreme Court has given a clean cheat. But I know the Modi government has refused pay hike for jawans."
Thackeray said the BJP's perception of being a "world winner" had been shattered with the results of the just-held state assembly polls.
Thackeray, who had visited Ayodhya last month to push for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in the holy town, said he may soon visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.
Thackeray, who has consistently attacked the Modi government on a range of issues, said he has already taken the decision on whether to form an alliance with the BJP for the upcoming general elections.
The Sena chief in January had announced his party would contest all future Lok Sabha and assembly elections on its own.
In the last six months, the BJP leadership has been consistently stressing on an alliance with the Sena for the upcoming polls.
The Amit Shah-led party has regularly insisted that the Maharashtra-based outfit is its natural ally and they will resolve their differences amicably.
However, at the Pandharpur rally, Thackeray appeared to be in no mood to spare the lead NDA constituent.
"The BJP's perception of a 'world winner' has been shattered by the results of the assembly elections in the five states.
"The outcome of Mizoram and Telangana assembly elections has given a clear message that voters have rejected national parties and chosen strong regional options," he said.
In the just-held polls, the BJP was ousted from power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh by the Congress, while regional parties did well in Mizoram and Telangana.
"The Chhattisgarh assembly election has also given a strong message against the BJP. People were fed up with the BJP government and hence they rejected it," said Thackeray.
He also took on the Modi government over issues like allegations of irregularities in the Rafale fighter jet deal and implementation of crop insurance scheme for farmers.
"There have been several allegations over the Rafale fighter jet deal and I do not know how the Supreme Court has given a clean cheat. But I know the Modi government has refused pay hike for jawans," the Sena chief said.
Uddhav also asked the BJP to clear its stand on the Ram temple issue and demanded a discussion in Parliament.
He said his party will not allow any jumlas (rhetoric) in the name of Lord Ram or any other Hindu god and asserted those who were voted to power on the temple issue are now sleeping like Kumbhakarn.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should discuss the matter in Parliament.
"I want to tell BJP one thing, we can forgive you on 'ache din' jumla and the promise of Rs 15 lakh to each person. But we will not forgive you if you come up with one more jumla on our faith or in the same of god. We will beat you up.
"We will not allow you to make any more false promises in the name of Ram or any other Hindu god," he said.
The Shiv Sena will expose such 'jumlas' in Maharashtra, Thackeray said.
Commenting on the finalisation of seat-sharing in Bihar between the Janata Dal-United, the Lok Janshakti Party and the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he asked chiefs of the two regional parties to clarify their stand on Ram mandir and Hindutva.
"Nitish Kumar (the JDU chief) and (LJP president) Ram Vilas Paswan should declare their views on Ram mandir and Hindutva," the Sena leader said.
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