Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 will decide if state belongs to Phule-Ambedkar-Shahu or Modi-Shah-Adani: Uddhav

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The Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 will decide if the state belongs to revered personalities such as Mahatma Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shahu or the troika of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-Home Minister Amit Shah-industrialist Gautam Adani, said Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray while addressing a rally in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Thursday.

According to news agency PTI, he also slammed Union Minister Amit Shah for claiming in a recent rally that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) was aligned with those who had opposed the scrapping of Article 370, which had gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"This poll will decide whether the state belongs to Phule, Ambedkar and Shahu or to people like Modi, Shah and Adani. This poll is between lovers of Maharashtra and looters of Maharashtra," he said.

Attacking Modi, who held a rally ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar earlier in the day, Thackeray claimed that the PM made hollow promises.

According to PTI, he also slammed the PM for referring to the Shiv Sena founder as just Balasaheb Thackeray without the honorific 'Hinduhrudaysamrat".

"He is not a classmate of Modi. I passed the decision to rename this city after Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar when traitors [a reference to rebel legislators under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde] were in Surat to eat dhokla," Thackeray said.

BJP's love for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar fake: Uddhav Thackeray

He also questioned why the Election Commission did not change the name of the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies after the name of the district till now and why is the airport at Chikalthana still bearing the old name.

Slamming Shah, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said, "The Union Home minister says we are standing with those who opposed scrapping of Article 370. We applauded you for the move. But tell me if any Kashmiri Pandit has been able to go back to his native Valley after the provision was scrapped," the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief questioned.

Asserting that the BJP's love for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was fake, Thackeray asaid a medical devices park set to come up here, which would have employed one lakh people, was shifted to Gujarat.

According to PTI, the former Chief Minister also said accused the poll officials were checking his bags amid the model code of conduct implemented ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024. In a sarcastic vein he added that he was told that the bags of the PM only contain hollow promises.

Playing on the BJP's slogan of 'batenge toh katenge', Thackeray said the party is openly indulging in "lootenge aur doston mein batenge" in Maharashtra.

"The MVA government will be in power in a few days," he said and urged farmers not to sell their soybean crop till then.

"We will give you more MSP (minimum support price) than earlier. I take responsibility for this. We will also waive off farm loans," Thackeray said at the rally.

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, and former Member of Parliament (MP) Chandrakant Khaire also slammed the ruling dispensation for "hollow promises" of eradicating water scarcity in Marathwada.

The region has seen 7274 farmer suicides so far, Danve said.

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 will be held on November 20, while results will be declared three days later.

(With PTI inputs)