Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday sharpened his attack against the opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Criticising Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his alleged remarks against Swatantryaveer Savarkar, he said, “If you insult our daivat (gods), we will pull out your tongue.”
On Tuesday morning, Mr. Thackeray shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Latur, with the two of them holding hands in a show of unity. The Sena chief returned to Mumbai and addressed a rally for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Sena alliance’s Mumbai South candidate , Sena MP Arvind Sawant. The joint rally was also attended by BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar and other BJP and Republican Party of India leaders.
Mr. Thackeray started of by referring to the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance’s condition as that of a balloon with many holes. “Our alliance with the BJP has given a stomach ache to many. I was criticised for going to Gujarat for Amit Shah’s nomination. And who is criticising us — the NCP? They had supported BJP in 2014. At least we have officially formed an alliance.”
He went on to praise the BJP’s election manifesto as it had everything the Sena had asked for before forming the alliance. He was referring to the demands for building a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and the removal of Section 370.
He said the NDA is clear about who will be PM, but in the opposition alliance, there are several aspirants for the post, such as NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav.
He criticised the Congress manifesto for promising to remove the sedition law. “Just because you want to save someone, you will remove the entire section? Then what will you use against Kasab? [Rahul Gandhi] anyway says Masood Azhar ji . Tomorrow, Dawood will become Congress leader. Rahul Gandhi himself is deshdrohi (traitor),” Mr. Thackeray said.
Playing a clip of Mr. Gandhi purportedly calling Savarkar kaayar (coward), Mr. Thackeray said, “Will you make him PM? He is a nalayak kaarta (useless brat). Go and experience one day in the prison Savarkar stayed in for 14 years. Go see how much he suffered, read his book. [Jawaharlal] Nehru never had to suffer so much in prison. And you call Savarkar a coward? If you insult our daivat (god), jeebh hasadun hataat deyeen (I’ll pull out your tongue).”
He also accused Mr. Pawar of land grabbing and corruption in defence deals.
Warning Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora, Mr. Sawant’s opponent in Mumbai South, to be careful, Mr. Thackeray said, “Milind is a kid. His father was made mayor by my father. Otherwise, nobody would have known his name.”
Mr. Shelar expressed confidence that the Sena-BJP alliance will win all six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai.
