Will never align again with PM Modi, says Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray

Uddhav Thackeray’s assertion comes days after PM asked Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) to join hands with Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has declared that he will never align with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying they were “treacherous” and would lose the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during an election meeting in Anushakti Nagar in Mumbai (HT Photo/Bachchan Kumar)

Thackeray’s assertion comes days after PM Modi advised the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) to join hands with Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, instead of “dying by merging with the Congress”.

In an interview with the party’s mouthpiece, Saamana, Thackeray said “PM Modi and the (Union home minister Amit Shah) Shah harbour a grudge against Maharashtra, which is why they have shifted institutions and investment projects to other states. However, Modi’s dictatorial regime will end after these Lok Sabha elections, and that’s my guarantee. The INDIA alliance will form the government at the centre, and after that, I will ensure that Maharashtra regains its past glory.”

Thackeray also claimed that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will come to power when elections to the Maharashtra assembly are held later this year. “We will then order probes into corruption cases, including scams in the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) and the misuse of funds by breaking the fixed deposits of the BMC.”

As reported by HT, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also said Maharashtra had a big role in Modi’s ascent to power as over 40 MPs were elected from the state. “But they turned out to be traitors,” he said.

Terming the Modi government as ‘Ghajini’ sarkar, he said what was promised in 2014 was forgotten in 2019 and what was promised in 2019 was forgotten now.

“People have been fooled twice. One can fool some of the people some time, but not all the people all the time,” he said, adding that people had begun to see through tall claims of the government.