Marking the anniversary of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on November 28, the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray slammed BJP for targeting Shiv Sena over Hindutva.
Thackeray (60), who is heading the Shiv Sena-NCP- Congress alliance ministry was speaking in a press conference at his official residence Varsha in south Mumbai, on the occasion of MVA regime completing a year.
“I believe in the Hindutva that has been carried on for years by my grandfather. It runs in my veins. My definition of Hindutva has not changed and it is cultured. You should not play politics in the name of any religion. Do not teach us Hindutva in the soil of Maharashtra.”
Denying the possibility of a saffron alliance in the future, he said that Sena criticised BJP on policy matters but never attacked their families. "You will now realise what we went through when we were in alliance with BJP. The perverted mind is now exposed," he said, referring to BJP targeting his wife Rashmi in land deals and son Aaditya in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
Thackeray defended his party's alliance with political rivals Congress and NCP to form the government, saying Shiv Sena was in alliance with a partner, BJP, which had a dark mind. "We can also talk about their wives and children. But my upbringing and my Hindutva do not allow me such bad conduct. I think people can now fathom the humiliation we suffered due to the BJP in the past 25 years. The BJP's ill feeling (towards the Thackerays and Sena) is now out in the open whereas we are the same people and the party which respects others. The people will now understand why I broke the pre-poll alliance with the BJP last year and formed a government with ideologically different parties," Thackeray said while interacting with reporters.
Asserting that his government is stable, Thackeray said the alliance partners are perceived to be ideologically different but the interests of the state and welfare of people binds the three parties together.
"We were in an ideological alliance earlier but the very foundation of that ideology, (based on) trust and faith, was betrayed," Thackeray said, alluding to the power his Shiv Sena party shared in the state with the BJP during 1995-1999 and again during 2014-19.
Thackeray said the most unforgettable moment last year was the betrayal by a friend of 25 to 30 years.
On November 28, 2019, Thackeray was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra after a dramatic turn of events. The Sena, a long-time ally of the BJP, opted to part ways and joined hands with unlikely allies in the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Thackeray also became the first Thackeray to hold a legislative post, breaking with the party’s previous tradition of extending control from the outside.
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