Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on July 10 accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of engineering "splits" in other parties and claimed it was doing so as it was not confident of winning elections on its own.
Mr. Thackeray, who was on a tour of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, also accused the BJP-led Centre of raising issues like the Uniform Civil Code ahead of polls just to divert the attention of people for electoral gains.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Mr. Thackeray broke ties with the BJP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with the help of the NCP and Congress.
The MVA government collapsed in June last year after Eknath Shinde broke ranks with Mr. Thackeray. Mr. Shinde later formed government in alliance with the BJP.
On July 2 this year, Ajit Pawar led a split in the NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, and joined the Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP MLAs also took oath as ministers in the State Cabinet.
Addressing Shiv Sena (UBT) workers in Amravati on the second day of his Vidarbha tour, Mr. Thackeray asked the BJP why it needed to "split" other parties when it claimed to have the "number one prime minister in world".
"You are stealing the Shiv Sena, you have also stolen the NCP and you will steal some other tomorrow. You sell off what belongs to the country and rob what belongs to others," he alleged.
"Why this time has come before the BJP - the biggest party in the world? It's meaning is very simple - you have 'satta ki masti' (pride of power) and no 'atmavishwas' (self-confidence)," he said.
The BJP, even after becoming so big and powerful, still feels it won't get elected, he said.
"Hence, they don't want anyone (opponent) before them, by using the ED, Income Tax and police," Mr. Thackeray said and dared the BJP to keep these agencies aside and come out in the political arena.
Mr. Thackeray claimed the Shiv Sena had carried the BJP, when it was "nothing" in Maharashtra, on its shoulders and helped it expand base in the State.
"You are trying to finish us off in politics, this is your Hindutva. We were with you for 25 to 30 years and now you are planning to finish off the Shiv Sena which was with you when you were zero," he said hitting out at its former saffron ally.
"Balasaheb Thackeray saved you, otherwise (former prime minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee had then thrown you in the dustbin. If Balasaheb Thackeray had not stood behind the present prime minister, then would he have been the PM now? This you should ask yourself rather than asking others," he said.
Further slamming the BJP-led Centre, he said they raise contentious issues to divert the attention of people ahead of elections.
"Now they have brought the issue of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and confused the people in a bid to win polls, and then leave the issue aside once the elections are over," the former CM said.
As soon as elections approach, issues like construction of the Ram Temple (in Ayodhya) will be raised, he said.
The BJP is not doing any favour by constructing the Ram temple as it is the Supreme Court which gave a decision on the matter, he said.
"We were demanding a special legislation for the Ram temple construction but they (government) did not have the guts to bring it," Mr. Thackeray said.
When the fight for the Ram temple was going on, these "so called Hindutwadis" were hiding in a rat hole, he claimed.
Mr. Thackeray also claimed the Central government schemes were "bogus" and asked his party workers to reach out to the people and tell them the truth.
He noted there are allegations of corruption in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the COVID-19 pandemic (when the coalition led by him was in power in the State).
"If you want to find out corruption in the BMC, then also find out corruption in every municipal corporation in the State and the PM CARES fund (set up by the Centre during the pandemic)," he said.
In a veiled attack on Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana, Uddhav Thackeray said some "bogus" people are saying he has come to beg for votes.
"Yes, I have come to beg for votes because I consider voters as the king and don't consider them as slaves, who will vote on bogus certificates by taking money," he said.
"May be, now the time has come that they will need saline in politics after seeing the crowd and people's enthusiasm," he quipped.
Speaking to reporters in Amravati, Mr. Thackeray also said the Election Commission (EC) can allot an electoral symbol to a party, but it does not have powers to change the name of a party.
He said the name 'Shiv Sena' was given by his grandfather (Keshav Thackeray) and he will not let anyone "steal" it.
The Sena (UBT) leader also said he was receiving huge response and support from people during his visit to Vidarbha.
