Anganwadi workers from across Maharashtra gathered at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on Wednesday to press for their various demands. Addressing them at the venue, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray took a dig at the ruling alliance in the State.
Calling the government “insensitive”, Mr. Thackeray said, “I have come before you today as your elder brother and not a politician. You are on strike for the last one month, has the government come in your support to resolve the issues you are facing for years? If we didn’t have traitors in our governance, then we wouldn’t be facing this crisis today.”
Talking about the Ram Mandir invitation, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said he doesn’t need anybody’s invitation to visit it. “Does Lord Ram belong to BJP alone?” he asked the anganwadi workers and they responded, “No.”
“Then why would I require anybody’s invitation to visit Lord Ram? I will not attend the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony on January 22. I will visit Ayodha whenever I want to,” Mr. Thackeray said.
Expressing a sense of regret, he said, “I definitely regret that as a Chief Minister I couldn’t have the time to serve the people for a longer period. Together we faced and fought COVID-19 and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of every health worker. This government has no empathy and compassion and that is why they do not care for the people. The 2 lakh anganwadi workers will decide in the next election who they want to have in power.”
Calling the Maharashtra government ‘ Khoke Sarkar ’, Mr. Thackeray accused the ruling alliance partners of having the money to spend on advertisements and poll campaigning but not on people.
Maharashtra Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar arrived at the venue at 5 p.m. and called upon Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to meet the workers.
“We are sitting outside the Chief Minister’s home,” said Shubha Shamim, president of Anganwadi Karmachari Sanghatana. The meeting ended at 10 p.m. but didn’t have any positive outcome. “We will continue our protest at Azad Maidan,” said Ms. Shamim.
