Shiv Sena UBT President Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday accused the BJP and RSS of creating disputes over the language issue after they had started fights over gods.
“RSS people sit on the terrace with sticks, those sticks are good for drying clothes. These are the people who teach patriotism from the terrace of their houses even if the war against Pakistan starts. Just as they have no connection with the country’s freedom struggle, they have no connection with the struggle for a united Maharashtra. Those who have no connection with freedom hold the reins of the country in their hands. Further, those who start fights over gods are now creating disputes over the issue of language,” he said in his speech at the party’s training camp here on Sunday.
He targeted RSS veteran Bhayyaji Joshi over his statement last week that “people coming to Mumbai don’t have to learn Marathi.”
“We have no hatred towards Gujarat. But these people are now starting linguistic regionalism. We are Hindus in the country, but in Maharashtra we are Marathi. The language of Ghatkopar is called Gujarati. Don’t teach us. They (BJP and RSS) also worked to create division in the fight for a united Maharashtra,” he charged.
Thackeray further stated, “The battle is not a party battle. It is not a political battle but it is for our mother tongue and the identity of Maharashtra.” He claimed that RSS and BJP people teach patriotism from the rooftops, the country’s leadership is in the hands of those who have no connection with the freedom struggle.
“We are followers of Mohan Bhagwat. If he did not go to the Kumbh Mela, how would I go?” he asked.
“We are also saying Jai Shri Ram. What right does BJP have over Ram?” he questioned. “We want a BJP-free Ram. We will say Jai Shri Ram, but we will make BJP people say Jai Shivaji, Jai Bhavani. Are you now instigating a fight over a deity?” he asked.
Thackeray said that BJP’s claim of being patriotic is a fake narrative. “It was Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray’s stand that India should not play a match with Pakistan until Pakistan takes a cordial posture towards our country. But now they (BJP and RSS) are teaching us patriotism,” he added.
Thackeray replied to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ taunt that he was not his predecessor to stay on ongoing projects saying “You are not Uddhav Thackeray and cannot become Uddhav Thackeray.”
Thackeray in his speech at the party’s training camp further stated “I did not let the work stop during the Corona period. I did not let the Metro work stop. I did not let the work of the Coastal Road stop. Even in hospitals, we provide services and facilities that you would never have had in your life. Just because I did not do the dirty work of your bosses’ friends, I am not Uddhav Thackeray. You (CM Fadnavis) are not Uddhav Thackeray and you cannot become Uddhav Thackeray.”
“In 2012, we won Mumbai with just two words, ‘Karun Dakhavle’ (we have demonstrated) and we did the same in 2017 (BMC election). Devendra Fadnavis should be told that the Coastal Road is not your achievement, it is Shiv Sena’s. I have done the foundation stone laying for it. Even though you have started the link road called Nhava Sheva-Sewri, I have laid its first girder as the Chief Minister,” he said replying to Fadnavis’s dig.
Thackeray declared that he would bring back the party to power again after opponents will be clean-bowled.
