Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said the BJP was trying to weaken the importance of Mumbai and all businesses and industries are being shifted to Gujarat. Addressing a conclave of veteran Shiv Sainiks, Thackeray said only Shiv Sena can stop the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra. "I see an opportunity in the crisis (following a split in Shiv Sena)," he said and appealed to the first-generation Shiv Sainiks to impress upon young workers the indispensability of Sena for Mumbai, Maharashtra, and Marathi people. The former chief minister accused the BJP of trying to weaken the importance of Mumbai.
"All businesses and industries are being shifted to Gujarat. What is the need for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train?" he questioned. Thackeray said the Coastal Road is being constructed from the funds of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
He said the Shiv Sena’s fight is against autocratic tendencies and not individuals. "In 2014 and 2019, the BJP tried to destabilize Shiv Sena. But now it has robbed the Sena (a reference to the split caused by Eknath Shinde's rebellion in 2022) and tried to destroy it," Thackeray alleged. He claimed a BJP leader told him in 2014 that when Sena (undivided) was in opposition for a month, the alliance was called off because the BJP wanted to finish off the Sena.
Thackeray said the BJP has no patent on Hindutva. "I still tell people that those who want to leave (Sena) can do so because I don't want traitor-minded people to take credit for our victory," he said. Referring to PM Modi's criticism of Sharad Pawar during his recent visit to Shirdi, Thackeray said the prime minister should first answer what he has done for farmers. "Why farmers had to protest for several months and why did the Centre have to withdraw the farm laws?" he asked.
Thackeray said the allegations of a "Covid scam" were an attempt to malign Maharashtra's image. "Provisions of the Epidemic Act were in force and the priority was saving the lives of people which we did," the former CM said. Businessman Sujit Patkar, a friend of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, is a key accused in a case related to alleged irregularities at the jumbo Covid-19 treatment centres set up in Mumbai during the pandemic.
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