Mumbai, Jan 8 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said there was no alternative to the unity of the Congress and regional opposition parties at the national level, and blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “breaking” his party.
Use-and-throw has been the BJP’s policy and it has reduced the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde to a “doormat”, the former Maharashtra chief minister said in an interview to PTI Videos ahead of the all-important election to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on January 15.
His cousin, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, and him will never part ways now that they have come together after several years, Uddhav said.
Responding to the question whether the INDIA bloc still exists, Uddhav said, “Probe a bit and check whether the INDIA bloc is there or not. It is true that we met only once after Parliamentary polls at Rahul ji’s (Rahul Gandhi) residence.” Congress unilaterally declared that it wanted an alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) for the civic polls but not with the other parties (MNS) which are with the Sena, he said.
“(Sharad) Pawar saheb (NCP-SP) is with us (in the BMC polls). Congress is not with us. At the national level we want everyone to be together. We, other regional parties and Congress should be there. There should be an attempt to (come together). I don’t see any other alternative to it,” Thackeray asserted.
The Congress, an important partner in the opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, decided to go solo in the BMC polls citing Shiv Sena (UBT)’s alliance with the MNS which is known for its strident anti-North Indian stand.
When asked whether the MNS will be part of the INDIA bloc in future, Thackeray said, “Currently, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS have come together. Anyone else who wants to come can join us. It’s their wish. We are not going to ask them if they want to come along.” On his stormy relations with the BJP, he said, “I am sad and angry that I campaigned for Narendra Modi in 2014 and 2019. Even after helping him twice, he broke my party.
“I was (then) saying that he should be made prime minister. Now, he is saying that I should be finished,” Thackeray added.
He also alleged that separating Mumbai from Maharashtra was the “old dream” of the BJP.
“Now they think that (Uddhav’s father and Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray is not there (and) they have finished off the Sena on paper. But they can’t do so on the ground,” he said.
“BJP’s tendency is to use and throw. This bad tendency was not there during Atal ji’s (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) time. The BJP has turned the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena into a doormat,” Thackeray said.
Shinde, notably, split the Shiv Sena led by Thackeray in June 2022, and formed a government with the BJP’s support.
On his rapprochement with cousin Raj Thackeray, Uddhav said they have come together “after much thought and understanding.” “Now, we will never part ways,” he asserted.
The once-estranged cousins, fighting for survival after the drubbing their respective parties received in the 2024 assembly elections, announced an alliance last month ahead of the polls in Mumbai and 28 other municipal corporations in Maharashtra. PTI PR VT KRK
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