Fadnavis takes on CM Thackeray, says BJP trying to rid Mumbai of Shiv Sena’s corruption

A day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accused the BJP of trying to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra, Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said his party did want to free the city, but not from the state, but from the corruption of the Shiv Sena. He said it was Shiv Sena chief's habit to raise such allegations, because the party doesn't have issues to talk about.

Fadnavis responded to Thackeray's allegations at the Hindi Bhashi Mahasankalp Sabha, a congregation of BJP's local supporters who hail from the Hindi belt of north India, at the NESCO Centre, Goregaon, on Sunday. He promised to burn the ‘Lanka', equating his rally with the congregation of Pandavas and the Sena's with the Kauravas.

Corruption-free Mumbai

"It is not possible for anyone to break the city (from the state). He (Thackeray) talks such things when he doesn't have any other issue to talk about. Yes, we want to free the city, but from the Sena's corruption in the BMC. We want to create Mumbai which all of us would be proud of," said the former CM, adding that Thackeray had no answer to the questions the BJP had raised over corruption in the BMC. Fadnavis added, "You said you are Mumbai's father… but there is only one father of the city and the state--Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj…"

Sonia appeasement

Fadnavis said Thackeray's speech was dedicated to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "He spoke the language that the Congress uses against the RSS. By abusing the RSS, he indicated he was with Sonia Gandhi and the Congress."

Dismissing Thackeray's charge that the BJP's parent body, the RSS, did not participate in the country's freedom struggle and if it did, someone should produce evidence, Fadnavis said the organisation's founder Dr K B Hedgewar and many of his associates were officially listed as the freedom fighters. "On the other hand, you were on the side of Indira Gandhi who imposed the Emergency," he added.

He also linked Thackeray's refusal to rename Aurangabad after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje to Gandhi's appeasement. "It appeared as if Thackeray was urging Gandhi, madam, don't withdraw your support to the government…. I will not rename Aurangabad…" Fadnavis promised to change the name when the BJP comes back to power.

‘Modi is real Hindu'

"Thackeray said he didn't want a Hindu who strokes temple bells but tames terrorist. Before you raised question over the killing of Kashmiri Pandits, the new India that Modi has created avenged the death by killing three terrorists within 24 hours," said Fadnavis, calling Modi the only tiger the country has. "Balasaheb (Thackeray) was a tiger… and now there is only one tiger… Narendra Modi," he added. "One cannot become a tiger by photographing," he said. CM Thackeray is a trained photographer-turned-politician.

He took pot shots at Thackeray for comparing the meeting of PM with the CMs to an IPL game. "Thackeray also runs the government like an IPL game. He doesn't talk about development. The king should leave his palace to understand the ground issues," Fadnavis said.

The BJP leader wondered why Thackeray remained silent when AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi prayed at the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb in Aurangabad. "I want to tell Owaisi that one day the saffron flag will be hoisted across the country," he said.

Babri demolition

The CM had ridiculed Fadnavis's claim that he was present when Babri masjid was demolished in 1992, and poked him over his weight, saying, "The structure could have collapsed even if you had tried to climb up…"

Fadnavis said Thackeray could decrease his political weight by backstabbing him, but he would not rest until "your (political) structure is demolished". The BJP leader said he was a 22-year-old civic corporator and lawyer when he was present at the demolition without fearing a bullet. "I weighed 128 kg then. I was also present when the Kothari brothers fell to police bullets during kar seva a year before and I was put in the Badaun jail in Uttar Pradesh. We waited for the people from Shiv Sena to join us in the jail but nobody came… And before the kar seva, I had been to Kashmir where I faced lathis and saw bullets firing. I have reached where I'm today by doing all this. I'm not born with a silver spoon. Where were you in any of the agitation and struggle?" he asked, declaring that he would perform kar seva, if needed in the future.

Fadnavis said he was happy that his early morning swearing-in did not succeed. "Even if it had succeeded, my cabinet would not have the Wazes and Maliks." He also cautioned Thackeray to be aware of Sharad Pawar "who your late father ridiculed as a sack of flour, and you became a CM by rubbing your nose on the same sack".