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Attacking the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on its ‘Ram, Aurangzeb’ rhetoric and ‘Hindu Jan Akrosh Yatra’, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the BJP is not a party of Ram but of “Ayarams”.
This is a term used to describe those who switch loyalties, it has become the symbol of defectors in Indian politics who switch parties for power. Thackeray said the BJP should now build a ‘temple of Ayaraam’, making a frontal attack on his former ally.
The BJP came to power in the name of Ram but now it requires “Ayarams” to remain in power. In Maharashtra, it split the Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Speculation is rife that now it is the turn of the Congress.
These splits are taking place at a time when the BJP and the Shiv Sena faction (Eknath Shinde) have an absolute majority in the state Assembly. Sources said the objective now is not to gain numbers but to weaken the Opposition, when they face the Lok Sabha elections after seven months.
The BJP won elections in the name of Ram but it is encouraging ‘Ayarams’ to come to power where it lacks adequate numbers to form a government. It applied this strategy in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and in the past in Karnataka and Goa.
The BJP is making Mughal emperor Aurangazeb its election plank to polarise voters in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray asked where was Aurangzeb when he was the Chief Minister? “Why are you shouting Aurangzeb-Aurangzeb when you are in power?
“You (BJP) did not get mileage of Bajrangbali in the Karnataka Assembly polls, and you would not succeed in exploiting the Aurangzeb issue in Maharashtra polls,” he said, adding “In Karnataka, they got hit with the gada of Bajrang Bali. Now, in Maharashtra, they keep chanting ‘Aurangzeb Aurangzeb’”.
Attacking Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray said, “You (Devendra Fadnavis) are Home Minister, you don't know what activities are happening in Maharashtra, so why are you Home Minister?
“Today, let me tell you, Aurangzeb is still alive. Look at what is happening here (in Maharashtra). There is Aurangzeb who divided Shiv Sena, there is Aurangzeb who divided NCP. Fadnavis, Aurangzeb is within you.”
He asked the BJP as to why it has been taking out Hindu Jan Akrosh Yatras when “we have ‘Vishwaguru’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Why do you feel insecure? When ‘Vishwaguru’ Modi is ruling India, did Hindus feel the need to come out with a Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha (Hindu anger rally)?”
Responding to reports about Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to get ‘rakhis’ tied from Muslim women this coming Raksha Bandhan, Uddhav Thackeray said, “If you have guts, get a rakhi tied from Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped in Gujrat violence and all culprits in the case were released by the Gujarat government. They were felicitated. And women who were paraded naked in Manipur recently”.
The former Chief Minister of Maharashtra who has turned a harsh critic of the BJP, once the oldest ideological ally of the Shiv Sena, was addressing a joint meeting of his Shiv Sena and the Sambhaji Brigade in Mumbai,the other day.
Devendra Fadnavis,the deputy CM and the BJP’s face in Maharashtra, has become a `muster minister’ Uddhav Thackeray said. Thackeray was suggesting that Fadnavis’s role is now to maintain a register of defector MLAs of the Shiv Sena and the NCP backing Eknath shinde government.
Thackeray dared the BJP to hold Maharashtra Assembly Polls, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporations or even the Lok Sabha Polls together and see who would win. “We are ready …why are you not ready ?” he asked.
Uddhav Thackeray is perhaps the only leader in the Maha Vikas Agadhi who takes on the BJP, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the front, at a time when his party has become the main target of the BJP.
He also said those who want to quit his party can leave as he is not bothered. His attack is straight and catches the attention of the people who attend his meetings in large numbers.
Criticising the Prime Minister for deriding the opposition INDIA alliance. Uddhav Thackeray said the INDIA bloc comprises the parties that oppose those who strangle democracy and freedom.
“We feel proud when PM Modi meets foreign leaders abroad. Do you meet them as the Prime Minister of India or as Pradhan Sevak of the Indian Mujahideen?” he asked.
Thackeray was referring to PM Modi's criticism of the opposition alliance INDIA, wherein he had cited names such as East India Company and Indian Mujahideen to assert that people cannot be misled merely by the use of the country's name.
Thackeray, however, declared that they did not want to ‘finish’ Modi. “Modi is not my enemy and I don’t have a personal fight with him,” he said, adding, “It is his thoughts and mentality that we must finish. I feel bad that when the BJP was untouchable in the country, my father had supported them.”
He also declared, “Even if the BJP uses its full might, it will not be able to finish Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray.”
Maharashtra is passing through a phase where the ruling front is unsure of retaining power while the opposition is finding it difficult to keep its flock together. The Opposition is saying the BJP-led NDA comprises the ED,Income Tax and the CBI and not political parties.
