Do you think our party is as “fake” as your degree, Thackeray asks PM Modi

In the past, other opposition leaders like Arvind Kejriwal have questioned Modi's educational qualifications, although without furnishing proof

Mumbai: At a public rally in Boisar, Palghar, on Friday Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling his party “duplicate” Sena. Thackeray said he had inherited the party from his late father Balasaheb Thackeray, which unlike Modi’s degree was not “fake”.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief, Uddhav Thackeray

“Do you think our party is as fake as your educational degree…?” said Thackeray, referring to the controversy over authenticity of the prime minister’s degree – in the past, other opposition leaders like Arvind Kejriwal have questioned Modi's educational qualifications, although without furnishing proof. “Let me be very clear. Maharashtra will not accept Modi. Only Thackeray and Pawar will make noise here.”

Modi had made the statement on Monday in Chandrapur, where he held the state’s first poll rally. While he called Uddhav’s party a “duplicate Shiv Sena”, on Thursday, union home minister Amit Shah termed Sena (UBT) and NCP-SP “fake” at a rally in Nanded on Thursday.

“I want to ask Amit Shah, ‘how many leaders sitting in your car during the tour were originally from BJP?’,” said Thackeray.

He then slammed Modi for labelling stickers scripted ‘Modi sarkar’ instead of ‘Bharat Sarkar’ on various government schemes. “Modi is treating people of the country as his slaves and is so arrogant that he started using the word ‘Modi Sarkar’ instead of ‘Bharat Sarkar’. We are not cowards to accept slavery and will not tolerate this,” said the Sena (UBT) chief.

At the rally, Thackeray also vowed to scrap the Vadhavan port project in Palghar district, which he said is being opposed by local fishermen. He said his party will support the demand of locals and cancel the project once INDIA alliance comes into power at the Centre. Thackeray called attention to the fact that the Vadhavan project was scrapped when the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was in power during 1995-1999. He said, he had visited the area and interacted with villagers and fishermen in the late ’90s. After his interaction with them, he had conveyed their opposition to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who scrapped the project, the former chief minister said.

“If you are going ahead with Vadhavan project by not acknowledging the concerns of people, then go ahead. We will run the people’s bulldozer over this government,” Thackeray said in a warning to the central and state governments. He said if his party candidate Bharti Kamdi wins, she will oppose the project in Lok Sabha.

Earlier this year, the Vadhavan Port in the state’s Palghar district received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The ₹76,220-crore Vadhavan Port is being developed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Maharashtra Maritime Board. It received in-principle approval from the Centre on February 13, 2020, while the terms of reference (ToR) were approved on October 7 in the same year.

After the public rally, Uddhav Thackeray along with Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders took the local train from Boisar to Bandra.