Speaking at the Shiv Sena (UBT) foundation day, Uddhav Thackeray apologized to the voters after the party's Lok Sabha MPs joined the rival faction led by Eknath Shinde.
He said democracy is at risk, highlighting that incidents such as poaching of opposition is celebrated rather than being condemned. He said people are confused about who is right and wrong.
He said that the Congress never tried to destroy the Shiv Sena (UBT), but the BJP is doing that even though the Sena helped it in its initial days to grow. "In Maharashtra, we gave them a hand; otherwise, they were untouchable in the state. And, today, the BJP wants to destroy it," he said.
He said if such situations continue, then the country will soon have one nation and one party, and democracy will end in the country.
“People are losing faith in democracy. The Gen Z are protesting against the ruling party and its faulty administrative system. The young people also fought for the country and got the independence, and the same young people are raising their voice,” Uddhav Thackeray.
He said farmers are struggling to get the minimum support price for their produce, but the MLAs and MPs are sold at high fixed prices.
“This is the irony of democracy. If we today stop contesting the election, how many people would remain with me? The voters are cheated by giving false promises. The traitors will remain traitors. They would not be able to remove that traitor spot even though they spend huge amounts of money. The history will remember them as traitors only,” Sena leader said.
Uddhav Thackeray said that the Shiv Sainiks are not disappointed, but they are more vigorous to fight, and they will continue to do that for the Sena.
He said that there are many people who have been with him for the last sixty years. “Many troubles came and went, but Shiv Sena is here. In the future, they would also be in more trouble. But we are firm in fighting. The power comes and goes; Sena was not born for the power. Sena has faced many troubles like emergency, but it never bogged down,” Uddhav Thackeray said.
Uddhav Thackeray said that the MPs who rebelled against them told them that the Shiv Sena (UBT) would merge with the Congress party; therefore, they went with Shiv Sena. How will I believe this? “Today, the BJP does not have a majority; therefore they are poaching different party MPs to increase their numbers in parliament. Today, the BJP has more outsiders than their own MPs in parliament,” Uddhav Thackeray said.
He said that some alleged that Uddhav Thackeray does not campaign and travel in the state. “If I had not campaigned for these people, how did they get elected? Who got them elected? Today, politics has been adulterated by wrong people and malpractice. Sena has pure blood, but some people tried to spoil it through their bad acts. But Sena will continue to remain pure when this bad thing goes out,” Uddhav Thackeray said, adding that they got a legacy from his father and grandfather.
He said that Maharashtra has a rich legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Shahu Maharaj, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, etc.
“We adore these icons because of their greatness and their contributions. These icons also faced trouble. Stones and cow dung were pelted at Mahatma Phule and Savitri Bai Phule, and today they are great for us. My grandfather also faced the same, but he was firm in his stand. When people attacked the Thackeray family at that time, no one came to prevent it. They are attacking us and asking questions to us,” asked Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.