Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackerayand his cousin Raj Thackerayattacked the BJP on Sunday, accusing it of promoting “fake Hindutva.” Speaking together at a joint rally for the upcoming civic polls, they said they reunited because they believe Mumbai is facing a serious “danger.” Uddhav said Annamalai had exposed the BJP’s hidden agenda. He accused the BJP of dividing people for votes. “BJP’s Hindutva and nationalism are fake.” He added, “Show us an election where you have not played politics of Hindu-Muslim.”
Uddhav also questioned whether the BJP wants to rename Mumbai as “Bombay,” referring to a recent remark by Tamil Nadu BJP leader K. Annamalai.
Annamalai had said, “(Narendra) Modi ji at the Centre, Devendra (Fadnavis) at the state and a BJP mayor in the BMC…because Bombay is not a Maharashtra city. It is an international city.”
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‘We united for Marathi manoos and Mumbai’, says Uddhav
The rally, held just before the January 15 civic polls – seen as a must-win for both parties after their 2024 defeat – highlighted that Uddhav and Raj have put aside their past differences.
Uddhav said they reunited for the “Marathi manoos, Hindus and Maharashtra.” He added that love for Marathi “has to be in the blood,” as both cousins projected themselves as the only force capable of protecting Mumbai.
Raj also said they came together because Mumbai was facing a serious threat.
BJP accused of ‘looting’ Mumbai
Both leaders accused the BJP of “looting” Mumbai and trying to link the city more closely with Gujarat. They claimed that Mumbai and Maharashtra’s assets were being handed over to the Gautam Adani-led group.
Raj said the BJP governmenthad favoured Adaniever since it came to power in 2014.
Speaking about the proposed Vadhavan port, Raj said it was located close to Gujarat and alleged that taking control of Palghar, Thane and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region was part of a bigger plan.
“The long-term plan is to connect Mumbai with Gujarat,” he said, pointing to projects like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train. “They cannot sell land to Adani if the BMC is with us,” Raj said, asking people to support the alliance.
He warned, “This is the last election for the Marathi manoos. If he makes a mistake now, the battle for Mumbai will be lost forever.”
Allegations of corruption in BMC
Uddhav alleged corruption worth Rs three lakh crore in the BMC during the previous Shiv Sena–BJP rule. He claimed irregularities in infrastructure works and alleged that 50–60% of cement was sourced from Adani.
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He further targeted the BJP’s alliances, saying, “What the BJP does is ‘Amar Prem’, and what we do is labelled ‘love jihad’,” referring to its ties with AIMIM in Akot and Congress in Ambernath.
Raj instructed party workers to closely monitor EVMs and double voters. He also told them to punish such voters if they were caught voting dishonestly. |
