Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde in his address at the Dussehra Rally at Azad Maidan on Tuesday led a front attack against his former boss and Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray claiming that he has left the Hindutva and Balasaheb Thackeray thoughts to become Chief Minister and remain in power. He without directly naming Udhav claimed that the latter, who is now hobnobbing with the NCP, Congress, socialists, may join hands with terrorist forces to grab power and one day merge the party with the Congress. ‘’You did the work of stabbing Balasaheb in the back, dishonesty. Congress, Samajwadi, MIM, some on the head, some on the shoulders, there is no telling. If this falls short, there is an Israel-Hamas alliance, they will face each other. Hizbul will meet Lashkar-e-Taiba for helplessness,’’he alleged.
Shinde, who comes from the politically influential Maratha community, took a pause during his speech and took the oath in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji that he will not sit quiet till Maratha community gets the reservation which will stand the legal scrutiny and sustain. ‘’The government will not touch the reservation of any community. I will work till the last drop of blood to give reservation to the Maratha community which will survive,’’he declared amid applause from the Sainiks gathered at the rally. Shinde’s announcement came on a day when the 40 days time period announced by the state government to address the Maratha quota issue ended today and the pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil has given a call for an indefinite fast from Wednesday to press for the quota.
Shinde said that he along with 39 Shiv Sena legislators left power and did not compromise the Hindutva and Balasaheb Thackeray’s thoughts. However, they (Uddhav Thackeray) compromised on Hindutva and Balasaheb Thackeray’s thoughts to gain power and become Chief Minister. ‘’Uddhav Thackeray became an opportunist to get power and instead of an ordinary Shiv Sainik becoming the CM he grabbed the post,’’he alleged.
‘’After the Election Commission’s decision to give Shiv Sena and bow and arrow symbol to the party led by me, they (Uddhav Thackeray) wrote a letter to me and shamelessly asked to release Rs 50 crore lying in the bank account. I did not oppose it but released it. ‘’It clearly showed their (Uddhav Thackeray) love is not for Balasaheb’s thoughts but for money,’’ he claimed. ‘’Those who tell the legacy of Balasaheb should look at their face in the mirror,’’ he noted.
‘’Ever since I became the chief minister, they have been saying that the government will fall. However, our government is strong. Curse of crow does not kill cows, we have 210 MLAs. As long as the public is with me, there is no threat to the government,’’said Shinde.
Shinde strongly defended the government’s decision to initiate a probe into the alleged scam in the handling of the pandemic by the BMC. Leading a blistering attack against Uddhav Thackeray, he alleged, ‘’You were counting money at home during Corona. Eating money in khichdi, eating money in oxygen, where to pay this sin. People will not forgive you.’’
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