'On New Year, I would like to wish you a Modi-free India'

MNS President Raj Thackeray speaks at his party's annual rally on Gudi Padwa at Shivaji Park. Pic/Rane Ashish

MNS Chief Raj Thackeray addressed a mega rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar yesterday, and came down heavily on PM Narendra Modi. He said, "The time has come to throw Modi-Shah out of power." Comparing him to German dictator Adolf Hitler, he asserted that Modi is trying to control everything, from media to business houses the way Hitler used to. "If BJP is voted to power again, then our democracy will be under threat. They might even scrap the elections."

Indirectly supporting Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate, Thackeray said, "When we say we don't want Modi as the PM, bhakts say there is no alternative. History shows that there has never been a fixed alternative for PM, and all those who became PM, it was based on the time and situation. If Rahul Gandhi becomes PM, then what is wrong?"

While comparing Modi to Hitler, Thackeray said, "In this country, the media houses, newspapers, channels, who talk against the government are threatened with consequences such as IT raids. All these were common practices of Hitler."

Addressing his party workers on Gudi Padwa, he said, "Our Gudi Padwa rally is there every year and this year it came during elections, so I will have to speak about politics. On the occasion of New Year, I would like to wish you a Modi-free India."

Thackeray also said that in the coming days, he would start a state-wide campaign and address 10 rallies. In an hour-long speech, Thackeray also effectively made use of old and new videos of Modi, which were shown to the supporters on screens.

"Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are threats to this country, and so I will campaign against them, and if this will benefit Congress and NCP, then it's only to defeat BJP." He called the duo power-hungry, and claimed that Modi has done no work in the last four-and-a-half-years, which is why he never fielded questions from journalists. "The government talks about several schemes they brought for people, but all these schemes were active during the earlier government, too. BJP has just changed the names of
the schemes."

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