Launching a broadside against the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government, former Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday, while claiming that the Maharashtra government had failed its farmers, exhorting them to display the same determination akin to the farmers currently protesting in north India.
Mr. Thackeray, who is touring the length and breadth of Maharashtra with a view to resurrecting the Sena (UBT)’s fortunes, was addressing a rally in Buldhana district.
Alleging that the Shinde government’s was completely apathetic towards the plight of Maharashtra’s farmers, Mr. Thackeray told farmers in the rally that instead of taking their lives, they ought to show the same determination and grit akin to their brethren protesting in the north today.
“Thousands of farmers from the north have gathered at the borders of Delhi and are agitating fearlessly for their just demands. They are bearing the injustice of the Central government, enduring shelling and teargas. Yet, they are resolute on their demands. However, the farmers of Maharashtra are silently bearing the injustice of this [Eknath Shinde-led] government,” Mr. Thackeray, whose MVA government had been toppled by Mr. Shinde’s revolt in June 2022, said.
He reiterated that he was not against PM Narendra Modi personally, but against the BJP’s dictatorship and totalitarianism.
“Therefore, this year’s Lok Sabha election is a struggle against this dictatorship. It has become a test for the voters as well. Do you want dictatorship or democracy? Now is the time to think about it and vote,” the Sena (UBT) chief said.
He further defended his action of allying with the Congress in 2019 to form the MVA, claiming he took the step as the BJP had allegedly broken its promise of giving the Sena the CM’s post for two-and-a-half years.
Attacking PM Modi, Mr. Thackeray said the former had forgotten the time when his father – late Sena founder Bal Thackeray – had ‘saved’ Mr. Modi by supporting him while the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had not wanted him as CM of Gujarat in the wake of the Godhra riots.
