Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray.
Nashik: Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo Uddhav Thackeray said at an event held in Nashik, North Maharashtra on Wednesday, that they have not sacrificed the ideology of Hindutva, but their former ally Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘rotten’ version of Hindutva is not acceptable to him. Thackeray suggested that the BJP -led government of Maharashtra should convert Mumbai’s Raj Bhavan complex into a memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and transfer the Governor’s residence to another place.
‘I have broken up with BJP, not Hindutva’
Thackeray said that if the BJP actually respects Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the central government should declare a holiday in the whole country on his birth anniversary. Thackeray claimed that without undivided Shiv Sena, the BJP could not reach the situation where it could build the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He accused the BJP of spreading false discourse that Shiv Sena (UBT) had left the path of Hindutva. Thackeray said, ‘I have broken ties with BJP, not Hindutva. Even if I die, I will not leave Hindutva. The torch can be the election symbol of the party, but the saffron color is its identity.
‘Nitish demanded RSS -free India’
Responding to the BJP’s allegations that Thackeray left Hindu nationalism after an alliance with the Congress, he said, ‘I do not accept the definition of rotten Hindutva of BJP. Tell me where I have left Hindutva. It is a false discourse that BJP is a Hindutva party. Thackeray said that the BJP has aligned with TDP and JDU, the head of which Nitish Kumar had once demanded ‘RSS Mukt Bharat’. During Ramadan, he also took a sarcasm at the BJP over the distribution of ‘Saugat-e-Modi’ kits and said that it was done keeping in mind the elections in Bihar, while in Maharashtra, the same party gave the slogan of ‘Bunted to the cut’.
What did Uddhav Thackeray say on the support of Muslims?
Thackeray Said that the Muslim community in Maharashtra supported his party because he treated everyone equally as Chief Minister. On his party’s voting against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Thackeray said that his party opposed the bill because there is no connection between Hindutva and Waqf Board. He also informed that the BJP has recently announced an alliance with AIADMK opposing the Waqf Amendment Act. Thackeray alleged that Mumbai is being “looted”, as all major projects are being transferred to Gujarat.
Thackeray also said on the results of the assembly elections
The former CM reiterated the results of not accepting the results of the November 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, in which the opposition suffered a crushing defeat. He claimed that if the election is conducted through ballot paper, the opposition will get a bigger mandate from the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ alliance. Thackeray praised the BJP’s booth management, but said that his party needs to work on it. He said that the alliance of opposition parties could not overcome the ‘confusion’ spread by the BJP and could not bring the good works of his government to the public.
