Thackeray attacks BJP at Marmik anniversary

Uddhav Thackeray accused the BJP-led central government of anti-Maharashtra policies, urging Marathis to unite against perceived injustices in jobs and properties.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday slammed the BJP-led government at the centre for its ‘anti-Maharashtra policies’ resulting in the denial of jobs and properties to Marathi speakers in the state.

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Speaking at the sixty-fourth anniversary of Marmik, a weekly magazine launched by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray which mobilised Marathis ahead of the formation of the party in 1966, Thackeray drew a parallel between the 1960s and the present period and urged people to join the battle to defeat anti-Maharashtra forces like the BJP.

“Maharashtra was formed in 1960, with Mumbai as its capital. Marmik was started in the same year. When Marathi people started facing injustice in getting jobs in Mumbai, Balasaheb Thackeray raised his voice through cartoons and columns in Marmik. Shiv Sena was born out of that anger,” he told the gathering at Shivaji Mandir in Dadar.

Now, after 60 years, Maharashtra and Marathi people were facing similar injustice, he noted. “Marathis are being denied jobs in companies as well as properties because of two anti-Maharashtra persons (prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah). It’s time for us to stand against them and defeat them,” said the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief. Party veterans such as Subhash Desai and Diwakar Raote were also present during the occasion.