Campaigning in cousin Amit’s poll debut turf, Aaditya slams MNS

Prior to speaking at the rally in Dadar, Aaditya addressed two other rallies in Versova and Ghatkopar West

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday slammed the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navirman Sena (MNS) while campaigning in the Mahim assembly constituency, where the MNS chief’s son Amit Thackeray is contesting against Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Mahesh Sawant and the sitting MLA Sada Sarvankar from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Campaigning in cousin Amit’s poll debut turf, Aaditya slams MNS

“I will not speak on a personal level, though they (MNS) are making personal attacks. I have my sanksar. But I will speak on the MNS,” Aaditya said while addressing a rally near Khandke building in Dadar in support of Sawant. He accused the MNS of fighting for the interests of Gujaratis while claiming it was a party for Marathi people.

“One must remember on how the BJP and prime minister Modi broke our party, removed Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister and took away industries to Gujarat. Is the MNS supporting all this,” he asked, noting that nearly five lakh people had lost jobs due to the shifting of industries to the neighbouring state.

While Amit Thackeray is making his political debut from Mahim this year, the MNS had refrained from fielding a candidate against Aaditya Thackeray during the latter’s debut in electoral politics from Worli in 2019.

During the rally, the Worli MLA wondered why the MNS was not seen on the roads in Mumbai over the past five years and what they had done during the pandemic. He accused chief minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP of forcing a cluster development project on Koliwada residents and said he would cancel the draft housing policy where it was mooted once the MVA assumed office.

“We will also slap a case under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) against Mahim MLA Sada Sarvankar, who fired at our party members inside the Dadar police station during the Ganesh visarjan procession,” he said.

Prior to speaking at the rally in Dadar, Aaditya addressed two other rallies in Versova and Ghatkopar West, in support of poll candidates Haroon Khan and Sanjay Bhalerao, respectively. He travelled after the first rally from DN Nagar to Asalpha by the metro and after the second rally from Ghatkopar to Dadar in a local train due to paucity of time. From Dadar station, he travelled on a two-wheeler to the meeting venue near Khandke building, but was only able to speak for 13 minutes.