Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, calling their coming together ahead of the January 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections a “Bheeti Sangam”, a union formed out of fear rather than affection.
Addressing a BJP rally in north Mumbai’s Kandivali area, Fadnavis said, “This is not a preeti sangam (a union out of love). This is a bheeti sangam (union out of fear).”
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) rointly released their manifesto for the BMC polls. Commenting on the document, Fadnavis said it should not be called a manifesto. “It is not a Vachannama (promises). It is a Vachunama (reading material). Even those who released it do not know what they have written,” he said.
Fadnavis also referred to a fact-check report on assurances made by Uddhav Thackeray in 2017, claiming that none of the promises mentioned by Sena UBT in its 2017 civic poll manifesto was fulfilled and now what they have mentioned in the recent manifesto is a copy-paste of the 2017 manifesto. “When we check the earlier assurances, not a single one was completed,” he said.
Continuing his attack, Fadnavis said, “Someone told me that a cartoonist (Raj) and a photographer (Uddhav) have come together. I told them that confusion and corruption have united.”
The Chief Minister also questioned why the manifesto was not released a day earlier, on the birth anniversary of Rajmata Jijabai, mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
“In recent times, some of our old friends (Sena UBT’s Uddhav Thackeray) have started sitting with people who are allergic to ‘Vande Mataram’. So I do not know what else they are allergic to,” he said, without naming either leader.
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Targeting Uddhav Thackeray’s record as Chief Minister, Fadnavis recalled that he had earlier announced a reward of Rs 1,000 for anyone who could find Uddhav Thackeray speaking about development. “Now I have decided to increase that amount to Rs 2,000,” he said.
At the rally, the BJP-led alliance released its campaign song “Mahapalika radate aahe (the municipal corporation is crying)”, alleging misrule during the tenure of Shiv Sena (UBT) in the BMC.
The song was composed by singer Avadhoot Gupte, who was present at the event and was also known for famously singing undivided Shiv Sena’s song.
In a setback for Shiv Sena (UBT) ahead of the civic polls, former Mumbai mayor Shubha Raul joined the BJP at the rally after resigning from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.
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Voting for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, along with elections to 28 other civic bodies across Maharashtra, will be held on January 15. The BMC, the country’s richest civic body, has long been a stronghold of the Shiv Sena, but the upcoming election is expected to be closely contested amid changing political alignments.
During his speech, Fadnavis also referred to comments made by Raj Thackeray about coming to Sena Bhavan after a gap of 20 years and saying that it feels as if he had come out of jail. “If you say you have come out of jail after 20 years, then people should know who sent you to jail, for which offence you went to jail, and whether that chapter is over now,” he said.
Fadnavis added that many people today do not even notice Raj Thackeray’s body language or speeches “it looked like it is not the Raj Thackeray who has been earlier. It looked like someone else”.