16 October,2021 07:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Dharmendra Jore
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (seated in the rear of a car) arrives for the Shiv Sena Dussehra rally at Shanmukhananda Auditorium with his wife Rashmi and son, environment minister Aaditya. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
At his aggressive best in recent times, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for posing a real threat to Hindutva, invading the sovereignty of the states, and hurting opposition leaders and their families by using Central agencies, in a bid to wrest power by hook or crook. Thackeray was addressing the Shiv Sena's annual Dussehra rally at Matunga's Shanmukhananda Auditorium. He appealed to party workers to do a West Bengal in Maharashtra, and get all Hindus - Marathi and non-Marathi - together to beat the BJP's designs of divide and rule.
Sena unbreakable
"My citadel is unbreakable. If there are efforts to attack the Thackeray family, we teach them a lesson then and there. Skulls will break, but there won't be any crack in the walls of my citadel," he said, referring to the use of Central agencies. "We will complete two years in the government next month. Bring down my government if you are so brave, without using agencies like CBI and ED," he challenged the BJP, saying the game of âraiding people for political revenge' will not last long. He called people behind the âevil design' impotent and power addicts.
"I'm not giving a challenge speaking as a head of the government, but as a leader who believes in the strength of my sainiks," he said, adding that the time was ripe to show the throne of Delhi the might of âHar Har Mahadev' (victory chant of Maratha forces that had won the Delhi).
Threat to Hindutva
"Some time ago, an RTI reply said that Hindutva was secure. But I say that Hindutva faces a real threat now from neo-Hindus. When Hindutva was in danger, only Bal Thackeray stood rock solid (to defend)," he added.
Thackeray appealed to the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to ensure that his people followed his preachings on Hindutva. "Your own people don't go by your advice on Hindutva which defines it as nationalism. We keep our Hindutva at home, and think of the nation when we leave home. Mohanji said that all of us in India have the same ancestors. Are the ancestors of opposition parties from other planets? Why were they killed in Lakhimpur Kheri? Do you approve of this Mohanrao?" he asked.
He said the real Hindutva was treating all equally. "As the CM I treat all equally. The Sainiks may have attacked someone in a situation which prevailed then, but have they triggered any communal riot after that?" he asked.
Thackeray said since it shared ideology with the RSS, the Sena joined hands with the BJP. "The alliance broke because you broke a promise. You could have been the CM if the promise was kept," he said in a jibe at opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis, who he said shouted, "I will be back," before the elections and now shouted, "I haven't gone (from the CMs office)."
Thackeray said he became the CM because of a promise he had made to his father. "But the promise I made to my father was that I will make a sainik the CM, and I will fulfil it one day," he said, insisting that the Sena will head a government yet again and a non-Thackeray may lead it.
He said he could have even quit politics if the situation was different. "I am fulfilling the duties of a son. But let me tell you that I am not a fakir who says he will go out with a jhola. My thoughts aren't that poor," he said, in a rare taunt directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He even called out defence minister Rajnath Singh, who he said had no qualification to discuss Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi.
He said the parties that played absolutely no role in India's freedom struggle were now raising âBharat Mata Ki Jai' slogans.
He wondered how Shiv Sainiks have become corrupt in the eyes of the rulers. "It is because he refuses to carry your palanquin and instead prefers the country. But the gutter water becomes Gangajal the moment it enters the BJP," he said. The CM mimicked a commercial saying how some leaders claimed to have been sleeping well after joining the BJP (because they did not fear raids and enforcement). He said the BJP, touted as the world's biggest party, had to import candidates for Assembly-by polls.
Thackeray said the country should debate in the 75th year of independence, issues like women's safety, saving the states' sovereignty from the Centre's attack and restive youth.
"Let constitutional experts and intellectuals of the country decide whether the states will survive under the growing dominance of the Central Government. I don't want nonentities to comment," he said, insisting that the states were denied equal rights by intervention in their daily business. "Power addict people are destroying the families of others (by misusing the Centre's rights)," he added.
He questioned the invasion by the Central agencies and their 'agenda' of defaming a state like Maharashtra when drugs worth thousands of crores were seized at Mundra Port in Gujarat. The state police who laid down their lives during the 26/11 terror attacks and seized drugs more than the Central agency, was dubbed the mafia, he said.
Thackeray said the country's youth was getting nothing but frustration. "The nation has the highest number of youngsters who don't have jobs. They are like bombs which will explode one day under the seats of power." He commented on the recent âcelebrity' raid by the Narcotics Control Bureau. "I'm not talking about just one youth, but the entire nation which is full of frustrated youth."
Ahead of the municipal polls, Thackeray announced some schemes for Mumbai, including a war museum, Marathi Bhasha Bhavan, and a performing arts museum. In a departure from many speeches, the party showed a film of the Sena-led government's achievements in the two years. "Please don't defame Maharashtra. Take it if you want, but then work like us," he told the BJP.
