Maharashtra Opposition stages massive solidarity show at Nagpur rally

The Opposition, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) troika, staged a strong show of solidarity in Nagpur on April 16, with Sena (UBT) leader and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray taking on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Amid a maze of speculation about the alleged fragility of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) troika, the Opposition staged a strong show of solidarity in Nagpur on April 16, with Sena (UBT) leader and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray taking on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of having transformed democracy into “a dahi handi, breaking governments wherever they saw an opportunity”.

Attacking the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra, Mr. Thackeray said Maharashtra was “a State of heroes, not traitors who stabbed people behind the back”.

“This is an unseasonal government… Everyone today must strive to defend the Constitution. What is this government doing to alleviate the plight of its farmers reeling under frequent hailstorms. In contrast, in our [previous MVA government’s] very first Assembly Session in Nagpur, we had not only announced but also implemented the waiver of crop loans to farmers up to ₹2 lakh,” said Mr. Thackeray, addressing the second ‘Vajramooth’ rally of the MVA alliance.

Rattling sabres with the Shinde camp and the BJP over the latter’s oft-directed accusation that Mr. Thackeray had ‘forsaken’ Hindutva ideals by allying with the ideologically opposed Congress and NCP, Mr. Thackeray riposted: “Had Hindutva been coursing in Shinde’s veins, he would have first visited Ayodhya and not scampered away to Guwahati, after his revolt last year. In contrast, when I went to Ayodhya, not only was my colleague Sanjay Raut there, but I am proud to say that even [senior Congressman] Sunil Kedar accompanied me.”

The former CM accused the BJP of falsely taking credit for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and belittling the contribution of late Sena founder Bal Thackeray and Shiv Sainiks, in the Babri mosque demolition.

“They [the BJP] keep accusing me of having forsaken Hindutva because I have allied with the Congress. Are there no Hindus in the Congress? Their Hindutva is only based on Gaumutra (cow urine),” said Mr. Thackeray, attacking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

“Mohan Bhagwat too, has visited a mosque. But what if I had visited a mosque? They [BJP] would have swiftly accused me of having left Hindutva…It was the BJP who had first broken our alliance in 2014, and not us,” said Mr. Thackeray.