Union Minister Narayan Rane on Friday targeted Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, saying that he was attending a meeting called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi due to his helplessness.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Rane said, "If Balasaheb Thackeray was alive today, he would not have compromised with his Hindutva ideology. But Uddhav Thackeray is helpless as he is attending the meeting called by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi." The Shiv Sena had earlier said that Uddhav Thackeray will take part in the virtual interaction to be held by Sonia Gandhi with the leaders of various opposition parties on Friday.
Mr. Rane downplayed the incident in which Shiv Sena workers 'sanitised' the memorial of party founder late Bal Thackeray at Shivaji Park in Mumbai after his visit to that place on Thursday.
"It is my outlook to bow before whoever I want. I visited other memorials as well and it was part of my dialogue with the people after I have been inducted into the Union cabinet," the BJP leader said.
"The (Thackeray) memorial is surrounded by mud. If Sena workers are so keen on sanitising it, then they should first keep it in a better condition. It should be on par with an international standard memorial. But its condition resembles the situation of Mumbai under the 32-year-long rule of the Shiv Sena...It is time to get rid of Sena," he said.
Mr. Rane added that the BJP would transform Mumbai into a "truly international standard" city.
"If Sena workers are acting out of some revenge, they will be rejected by the people of the state. The attitude of Sena workers is sad," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.
He also said that police cases being filed against BJP workers for alleged violation of COVID-19 norms would not deter him from continuing his ' Jan Ashirwad Yatra '.
"This government has miserably failed in controlling the coronavirus situation in the state. There was a shortage of medicines, doctors and medical staff. The Sena could not even buy enough doses of vaccine for Mumbaikars because they were demanding 12 per cent commission from one supplier who had responded to the tender floated by the BMC," Mr. Rane alleged, and added, "I can produce that person before you at the right time."
