‘Voted against Waqf Bill to oppose BJP’s intentions to grab land’: Uddhav Thackeray

He said that on one hand BJP leaders made speeches appeasing Muslims while advocating the bill, while on the other they targetted those who voted against the bill.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said his party voted against the Waqf bill in Parliament to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance government’s “ploy” to “grab land and give it to its industrialist friends”.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. (HT Photo)

“We voted against it to oppose the hypocrisy of BJP and their intentions of land grabbing through this bill,” Thackeray said, adding that the “BJP should remove colour green from its party flag if it dislikes Muslims”.

He said that on one hand BJP leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah, made speeches appeasing Muslims while advocating the bill, while on the other they targetted those who voted against the bill.

“If the aim is to appease Muslims, then who left Hindutva – BJP or us who opposed the bill? How can they blame us? BJP has won third term at Centre and things are going well yet it is raking up Hindu-Muslim issues,” Thackeray said during a press conference in Mumbai.

BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar slammed Thackeray for his allegations against the BJP and said, “Uddhav Thackeray has lost his frame of mind, which is why he is making such statements. He left Hindutva but could not get a new ground for his politics. So, he is following Rahul Gandhi’s fake secularism.”