Uddhav Thackeray said Sena left the BJP, not Hindutva. (File image)
Mumbai:
Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said his party will try to expand its reach outside of the state and towards a national role even as he accuses the BJP of using Hindutva for political purposes.
He also said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – led by the BJP – has shrunk as old elements such as Akali Dal and Shiv Sena have left the bloc.
Addressing Shiv Sena members virtually on the 96th birthday of the party founder and his father Bal Thackeray, Mr Thackeray said Sena had aligned with the BJP to further the Hindutva agenda. through power.
“Shiv Sena was affiliated with the BJP because it wanted power for Hindutva. Sena never used Hindutva for power,” he said.
Sena left the BJP, not Hindutva. I believe BJP’s Hindutva opportunity is only for power, he said.
Mr Thackeray also said that the 25 years Sena spent with the BJP as an ally had been wasted.
Sena fell out with the BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra polls and aligned with the NCP and Parliament to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“We wholeheartedly supported the BJP to help them realize their national ambitions. We understood that they were going to take the national road while we took the lead in Maharashtra. But we were betrayed and our efforts failed. force to destroy us in our homeland. So we had to fight back,” said Mr Thackeray, justifying his decision to align himself with the National Assembly and the Congress Party after the election. 2019.
He alleges that the BJP uses and dumps its allies for its political convenience.
Responding to BJP jibes that Sena had given up Hindutva for power, he said that his party had left the BJP and not the Hindutva ideology.
“BJP doesn’t mean Hindutva. I stand by my comment that Shiv Sena wasted 25 years of alliance with BJP,” he said.
Referring to the recent Nagar Panchayat elections where Sena was poor and secured fourth place, Minister Maharashtra said Sena leaders, including him, did not take opinion polls seriously. local body and proper movement.
“On the contrary, our new allies, Congress and the NCP, have built institutions at the grassroots. We must work in that direction as well. In the last two years, we have lost two Assembly seats. The Legislative Council that we hold in the biennial election. I think we’re lost to oblivion, not to vandalism within our ranks,” he said.
He said despite this setback, Sena should aim to consolidate its presence at the national level and be determined to seize power in Delhi.
Mr. Thackeray asked Sena workers and leaders to focus on building institutions in the field of cooperatives and banking in rural areas.
“There is no point in talking about running for elections independently if our hand is not strong,” he said.
Mr Thackeray said the Sena River should also extend beyond Maharashtra and towards “taking over” Delhi.
He urged the Shiv to work hard and build grassroots party organization while the party was in power in Maharashtra.
Mr Thackeray, who was recovering from spinal surgery, attacked Maharashtra’s BJP leaders for attacking him for his health.
