On Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said his
party would try to expand its footprint outside the state and aim for a national role even as
he accused the BJP of using it Hindutva for its political convenience.
He also said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – led by the BJP – shrank as old
constituents like Akali Dal and Shiv Sena have already walked out of the bloc.
Addressing Shiv Sena members virtually on the 96th birth anniversary of the party founder
and his father Bal Thackeray, Mr. Thackeray said the Sena had aligned with BJP for taking
forward the agenda of Hindutva through power.
“Shiv Sena had aligned with BJP as it wanted power for Hindutva. Sena never used
Hindutva for the sake of power,” he said.
The Sena has left the BJP and not Hindutva. I believe that BJP’s opportunistic Hindutva is
only for power, he said.
Mr. Thackeray also said that the 25 years the Sena spent with BJP as an ally were wasted.
The Sena fell out with BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra polls and tied up with NCP and
Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“We supported the BJP wholeheartedly to enable them to fulfill their national ambitions.
The understanding was they would go national while we would lead in Maharashtra. But we
were betrayed, and attempts were made to destroy us in our home.
So we had to hit back, ” Mr. Thackeray said, justifying his decision to align with Congress
and Nationalist Congress Party after the 2019 elections.
He alleged that BJP uses and dumps its allies as its political convenience.
Responding to BJP’s jibes that Sena had abandoned Hindutva for power, he said his party
had left BJP and not the ideology of Hindutva.
“BJP doesn’t mean Hindutva. I stand by my comment that Shiv Sena had wasted 25 years
in alliance with BJP,” he said.
Referring to the recent Nagar Panchayat elections where Sena fared poorly and secured the
fourth position, the Maharashtra Chief Minister said leaders of Sena, including himself,
didn’t take local body polls seriously and campaign accordingly.
“On the contrary, our new allies Congress and NCP have built institutions at the grassroots.
We, too, have to work in that direction.
In the last two years, we lost two Legislative Council seats in the biennial elections. I think
we lost due to the neglect and not due to sabotage in our ranks,” he said.
He said this setback notwithstanding, Sena should aim at consolidating its presence at the
national level and resolve to capture power in Delhi.
Mr. Thackeray asked Sena workers and leaders to build institutions in the cooperative and
banking sector in rural areas.
“There is no point talking about contesting elections independently if our hands are not
strong,” he said.
Mr. Thackeray said the Sena should also expand beyond Maharashtra and aim to “capture”
Delhi.
He appealed to Shiv Sainik to work with zeal and build the party organization at the
grassroots as the party is in power in Maharashtra.
Mr. Thackeray, who recuperated after undergoing spine surgery, hit out at Maharashtra BJP
leaders for attacking him over his health.
