Sharad Pawar, Uddhav trying to use Maratha quota stir to trigger riots ahead of Maharashtra polls: Raj Thackeray

Addressing a press conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Raj Thackeray on Saturday claimed that Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are using the Manoj Jarange-led quota stir as a shield for caste politics. File pic

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday alleged that Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray were trying to use the Maratha quota stir to trigger riots, especially in the Marathwada region, ahead of the state Assembly elections in October-November.

Addressing a press conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Thackeray claimed that Uddhav and Pawar are using the Manoj Jarange-led quota stir as a shield for caste politics.

"Using his agitation as a shield, people like Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray are doing politics in Marathwada," he said on the concluding day of his Marathwada tour, a day after some alleged Shiv Sena (UBT) workers threw betel nuts when his convoy was passing in Beed city. Four Shiv Sena (UBT) workers were held for the act.

Speaking about the incident, the MNS chief claimed that the (Beed) district president of Shiv Sena (UBT) raised casteist slogans to show his allegiance to Jarange.

He said Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav, and NCP will not be able to organise a single rally in Maharashtra if they try to create obstacles during his tour.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut admitted that those who protested against Thackeray could be the office-bearers of his party. He, however, distanced the Shiv Sena (UBT) from the Friday demonstration.

Maratha quota activists had led the agitation, he claimed.

Meanwhile, Thackeray claimed that Muslim and Dalit votes went against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha elections as they believed in the Opposition's narrative on the Constitution.

Notably, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies had acknowledged the false narrative that 'BJP will change the Constitution if voted to power again' affected the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) prospects in the elections.

The MNS chief, however, claimed that the narrative on changing the Constitution was not fake. Some BJP leaders had spoken so [about BJP's intent to do so if it returns to power with a massive mandate], he recalled.

In the Marathwada region, the epic centre of the Maratha quota stir, the BJP failed to win even a single Lok Sabha seat.

"That voting [in Lok Sabha] for the Opposition was not because of their [people's] love for them [opposition parties]. They [Uddhav and Sharad Pawar] think a similar trick should be played in the upcoming Assembly elections," Thackeray claimed.

He slammed Pawar for raising the potential of a Manipur-like unrest in Maharashtra.

"These people should worry that the situation in the state does not become like Manipur. You [people] will realise what runs in their minds. Their [Uddhav and Pawar's] efforts are to engineer riots, especially in Marathwada, in the three-and-a-half months," Thackeray claimed.

Instead of ensuring caste politics is not played in Maharashtra, Pawar is aiding it, he alleged.

According to Thackeray, hatred among castes percolated in Maharashtra after Pawar founded NCP in 1999.

The MNS chief alleged that Pawar did not use his good relations with Modi to resolve the quota impasse in Maharashtra.

Uddhav also did not bat for Maratha reservation when the (undivided) Shiv Sena led by him was in alliance with BJP from 2014 to 2019, Thackeray said.

(With PTI inputs)