Uddhav invokes Covid work for North Indian migrants, slams PM on Manipur

Thackeray said that during the elections, the BJP would do its caste arithmetic before selecting a candidate for North Indian pockets in Mumbai. “They will speak to you in your language and after Polling Day, they will vanish,” he said

Thane: Virtually launching his party’s campaign for the civic polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray invoked his government’s work during the harsh Covid lockdown for North Indian migrants who had to walk hundreds of kilometres to their homes. He also exhorted Hindi-speaking voters to join his fight against the tanashahi (dictatorship) which, he said, was threatening to enslave the country for the third time after the Mughals and the British.

Thane, India - July, 29, 2023: ShivSena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party chief Uddhav Thackeray addressed the audience at the Hindi-bhashik shivsainik (party workers)' meeting at Gadkari Rangayatan on Saturday , in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on,Saturday, July, 29, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

Thackeray was speaking at a Sena (UBT) event for Hindi-speaking party workers at Gadkari Rangayatan. Senior leaders like Sanjay Raut, Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Thane MP Rajan Vichare attended the event.

Underlining the assistance to North Indian migrants forced to walk hundreds of kilometres to their respective states, Thackeray said he had stayed true to the constitutional oath of never discriminating against anyone. “There are those who ask what did Uddhav do for North Indians? You have to answer them based on your own experiences,” he said.

“During the lockdown, we deployed state transport buses to transport North Indian migrants up to the borders of their states. We sought the Centre’s help to deploy trains, but it wasn’t allowed,” he said, differentiating between Maharashtra’s approach and the apathy in Uttar Pradesh where the pyres of Covid victims were lit on the banks of the river Ganga.

Thackeray said that during the elections, the BJP would do its caste arithmetic before selecting a candidate for North Indian pockets in Mumbai. “They will speak to you in your language and after Polling Day, they will vanish,” he said. “They will misguide you during the polls. You should ask them where they were during the Covid pandemic. The war has begun, and they will attempt to drive a wedge between us. But we must stay united.”

Thackeray also attacked Narendra Modi’s jibe equating the new opposition alliance named INDIA with terror group Indian Mujahideen. “When Modiji goes abroad, he goes as the prime minister of India, representing India. Does he go there as the pradhan sevak of the Indian Mujahideen?” asked Thackeray sarcastically.

The Manipur atrocity where two women were paraded naked and molested by a mob also figured prominently in his speech. Likening Modi to the blind Dhritarashtra of Mahabharat who was unable to see the disrobing of Draupadi, he said, “The CM of Manipur says many such incidents have happened. Is he not ashamed of saying this?” Thackeray pointed out the silence on crimes against women by the government despite the governor of the state being a woman and the President of India being an adivasi woman.

Thackeray labelled the BJP as Bhrashta Janata Party. “After two days, you will see a novel photograph of the prime minister sharing the stage with a man he accused of indulging in a ₹70,000-crore scam,” he said, terming the BJP a laundromat which washed clean all corruption charges against politicians once they joined the BJP bandwagon. “It’s like Aaja meri gaadi mein baith ja. This is a bhrastachar ki bullet train of the Bhrashta Janata Party.”

Reacting to the Thackeray meeting, Eknath Shinde aide and Shiv Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske claimed that Thackeray had to switch from Hindi to Marathi after a note was sent to him, informing him that there were only 20 percent Hindi speakers in the audience. “The rest were party workers brought in to show a large crowd,” he said. “How many North Indians are really with Uddhav Thackeray? And who are criticising as Dhritarashtra? Dhritarashtra was narrated the Mahabharata war by Sanjay. But you are the Dhristarashtra here and your Sanjay took a supari to finish your own party.”