Maharashtra: ‘Marathi manoos don’t want gaddars’

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray with Ajit Pawar (left) NCP leader at the Maha Vikas Aghadi rally at Bandra Kurla Complex on Monday. Pic/Rane Ashish

Having been the talk of the town for some time, Ajit Pawar on Monday used the dais at MVA's Maharashtra Day rally to end speculations of rifts in the NCP and also dared the ruling parties to hold long-pending local body polls. "I think they are scared of the outcome, which will definitely be in the MVA's favour, be it local bodies, the Lok Sabha or the Vidhan Sabha. The people don't tolerate gaddars (traitors)," Ajit said while addressing the public at the BKC ground.

At the joint rally of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Ajit Pawar recalled the struggle for unified Maharashtra that gave the Marathis their self respect. "That self respect is not liked by some people. There is a situation that demands answers about (breach of) law and order, and the Constitution (of India)," the NCP leader said, while accusing the Eknath Shinde government of disturbing the financial discipline of the state. "There is no money to be paid to the contractors or for other expenses" he added.

Ajit, who was mired in controversy over speculations of him splitting the party, stood alongside his party members and the leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), including Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress. Senior MVA leaders were in full attendance at the venue, which was packed with workers of the three coalition partners. The focus, in particular, was Mumbai and the state politics in general at the MVA's third such event. Sena UBT president Uddhav Thackeray led a frontal attack on the BJP and Shinde's faction. He accused the BJP of trying to separate the country's financial capital from the state of Maharashtra.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray with NCP and Congress leaders during the MVA rally ‘Vajramuth', at BKC on Monday. Pic/Rane Ashish

"The people who try to break Mumbai into pieces will be torn apart by us. But since they see that separating the city from the state is impossible (despite attempts), they are reducing its significance in the country's overall economy. Major things, offices, companies and industries that generate maximum revenue are being taken away from the city," Thackeray said, reiterating that for the BJP, winning the Mumbai municipal corporation was paramount because it was eyeing the civic body's massive fixed deposits. "This is just the beginning. Let's knock them down in the elections. The people of Maharashtra will show to Amit Shah what it feels like to bite the dust," he said, referring to the Union home minister's resolve to finish the Uddhav Sena.

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Thackeray said chief minister Shinde, who talks about Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology, should first understand the struggle of the sons of the soil who ensured that Mumbai remained in Maharashtra as its capital. "You wouldn't have become the CM (if the struggle wasn't there). You shouldn't be a blind witness to the atrocities against Mumbai," he said, calling out the government for ‘looting Mumbai and Maharashtra' "by way of rampant corruption in the government and local bodies that are being administered by the babus under direct control of Mantralaya".

Thackeray explained his party's Hindutva and his partnership with the Congress and the NCP to a mixed crowd at the rally. "My Hindutva is nationalism. Their Hindutva is cow urine," he said, while joking that the BJP workers may visit the venue the next day to purify it with cow urine. Congress's former CM Ashok Chavan appealed to the MVA workers to stick together. "Voters don't like ayaram gayaram. Our single-engine sarkar will come back to power. The double-triple engine sarkar doesn't work for the people," he said. State Congress president Nana Patole resolved to displace the governments in Delhi and Mumbai. NCP's Jitendra Awhad and Sena's Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut also addressed the attendees.