PUNE: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday claimed that the real reason behind the postponement of civic elections in the state is the chief minister's health and not the OBC quota issue as is being presented.
He also alleged that the state government does not want the civic elections in the state to be held and instead wants administrators appointed in the municipal bodies so that they remain under its control.
Speaking at the MNS's 16th foundation day function in Pune, Thackeray also criticised Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over his recent remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
"...I knew the elections (in the state) would be deferred. I had said so in November last year. Now they have put forth the issue of the OBC quota, but that is a lie. They never wanted to conduct elections. I am not concerned about anybody's personal life. I do not want to talk about anybody's health. The CM's health condition is not good and I do not want to talk about it, but that is the real reason (behind the postponement)," Thackeray claimed.
State Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has been recuperating after a cervical spine surgery he had undergone in November last year.
The MNS chief said that the government said that they are postponing the civic elections by three months.
"Will you be holding elections in May end or June when the rain starts?" he asked.
The state government appointed an administrator to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after the term of its House ended on March 7.
"The government does not want the elections to take place and wants that administrators be appointed on the civic bodies so that it would be a win-win situation from both sides for the government. This way, they will be in control of both - the government and the administrators of civic bodies," he said.
He said that even if the government said that they have deferred the elections by three months, the civic polls will take place after Diwali.
"What is going on in the state? Those who are in power said there is an attempt to wipe them out, while the opposition says the same thing. I have never seen the kind of mud-slinging that is going on nowadays," he said.
"Nobody is bothered about the pressing issues in the state, but they are busy conducting raids against each other," he added.
Thackeray deplored the recent remarks made by the Maharashtra governor, who had in an event in Aurangabad said that 'who would have asked about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had there not been Samarth (Ramdas)'.
He asked the governor whether he really knows anything about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Samarth Ramdas.
Thackeray lambasted the governor for speaking without any knowledge study and research.
"Neither Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ever said that Ramdas Swami was his 'guru', not Ramdas Swami ever said that Chhatrapati was his disciple. It is not there in any letter of Saint Ramdas, which proves that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was his disciple," he said.
He added that it is an effort to pit one against another and belittle one's valour and another's intellect.
"We would not take any teaching from what exactly Ramdas Swami had said about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Whatever Ramdas Swami had written about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, no one could ever write," he said.