The crowd that expected a typical thunderous speech from the leader, was left disappointed
The crowd that expected a typical thunderous speech from the leader, was left disappointed
On Saturday evening, there was much to look forward to for a Bal Thackeray fan. His last public appearance was six months ago at the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park, and Narayan Rane, Prithviraj Chavan and Ajit Pawar had recently taken potshots at the party. Surely Thackeray would launch into them. And people, licking their chops, expecting a delightfully ferocious speech had turned up at the Jamboree Maidan, Worli, in thousands. The occasion was the launch of son Uddhav Thackeray's Pahava Vitthal, a book of photographs on devotees who visit Pandharpur, a pilgrimage site in Maharashtra.
But when Thackeray took the mike, his speech lasted all of nine minutes. Known for being an orator who speaks for hours at end, this had to be his shortest speech. Even when he was seriously ill, two and a half years ago, he delivered an hour and a half-long speech during Dussehra.
When Thackeray started speaking, the crowd went berserk, cheering, and then he stopped abruptly. The halt left the crowd and the media disappointed. When contacted, Dr Jalil Parkar, who treats Thackeray, ruled out that the leader might have been ill.
However, in the nine minutes, Thackeray did manage to target the government and taunt Pawar for his apparent rowdy behaviour. He said of Pawar, "Even I am from Pune, and even I am stubborn, but that doesn't mean I talk rudely and disrespect others." Pawar had ridiculed the Sena's protest against the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power project.
Referring to a recent incident when a slipper was thrown at Suresh Kalmadi and had missed its mark, Thackeray offered a solution. "Chappals are light and generally miss the target. Hence from now on, bricks and that too heavy ones should be used to attack the corrupt."
