MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday launched his party’s election campaign in Maharashtra by taunting its former saffron ally and said he would ensure that the next Chief Minister would be from his party.
Uddhav alleged that the BJP had already planned to severe the 27-year-old alliance even before the seat-sharing negotiations got under way. To prove his point, he referred to certain constituencies, where the saffron outfit imported candidates from other parties, though they fell into the Sena’s quota.
“They wanted us to exchange Bhusawal, Gangapur and Tasgaon constituencies, because they had inducted people from other parties. These people had come to me first, but when I denied them entry they went to the BJP. It deliberately imported candidates in our seats. “The Bharatiya Janata Party had planned to break up the alliance,” he told a 60,000-strong gathering at Mahalaxmi.
The Sena chief devoted most of his 40-minute-long speech to flay the BJP and also found time to unveil his development plan.”I don’t need to talk about the Congress and the NCP, because people have decided to bury them,” he said.
Equating Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah with Mughal kings, Uddhav pointed out that no “Shah” could conquer Maharashtra. “There were many Shehenshahs -- Adilshah, Kutubshah... None of them could win Maharashtra. Aurangazeb had camped in the state for 26 years, but he too failed to conquer us,” he said, without directly naming Shah.
He claimed that the people would not forgive the Bharatiya Janata Party for breaking the Hindutva bond. “I am not happy with the break-up. I tried till the last moment to save the alliance. It was not possible for any party chief to give up 30-35 seats, where there was a real chance of victory. We do not own a godown of seats from where anyone can take out whatever he wants,” Uddhav said.
The Sena chief reiterated that the Narendra Modi wave was on the wane. “I don’t have any dispute with Modi. When there was a clamour for his ouster after the Godhra riots, Balasaheb had advised L K Advani not to remove him. We did not even know him at that time. A tea vendor has become PM only because of his luck,” he said.
Uddhav, however, refuted the BJP’s allegation that it was he who triggered the split because he wanted to become CM. “That is not true. But if they think so, I am ready to accept their challenge. The Shiv Sainiks will show them what a wave is,” he said.
The Sena chief also argued that he was the one could be trusted the most. “People tell me they (BJP) are in power at the Centre and ask me what the Shiv Sena has. I have trust. We have always kept our promises,” he said.
Ex-Cop Files Nomination Papers for Elections
Former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma on Saturday filed nomination papers for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. He would contest from Andheri (East) on a Republican Party of India (RPI) ticket. Express was the first to report on his plans to join politics.Sharma was keen on a Shiv Sena ticket from the same constituency. The party, however, fielded its senior worker Ramesh Latke following its break-up with the BJP. He then approached the saffron outfit, which spared the constituency for its ally, the Republican Party of India. Sharma would take on outgoing Health Minister Suresh Shetty. Sharma’s plans to join politics became apparent when he campaigned for his former boss BJP MP and former City Police Commissioner (CP) Satya Pal Singh in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Sharma was involved in the elimination of 105 criminals belonging to the gangs of Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan. He was dismissed in 2009 for his alleged involvement in a fake encounter. The court later acquitted him of the charges. In another development, the Sena has announced its decision not to field a candidate against BJP’s Pankaja Palwe, daughter of the late Gopinath Munde, from Parli in Beed district. The party would not also field a candidate against Geeta Gawli, daughter of convicted gangster Arun Gawli, in Byculla.