‘One to defeat Shiv Sena yet to be born’: Uddhav’s jibe at BJP’s Amit Shah

Thackeray, who was addressing the conclave of the Sena’s Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti (SLS) Mahasangh, also said it was a paradox that the income limit for reservation has been set at Rs 8 lakh by the Modi government but the tax exemption slab stood at Rs 2.5 lakh.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday taunted BJP chief Amit Shah saying no one can thrash his party even as he demanded that the Income Tax (IT) exemption limit be hiked to Rs 8 lakh on the lines of the reservation quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS).

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray hit back at BJP president Amit Shah for saying those do not ally with the party will be thrashed in the coming elections (File Photo) (HT Photo)

Thackeray, who was addressing the conclave of the Sena’s Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti (SLS) Mahasangh, said it was a paradox that the income limit for reservation has been set at Rs 8 lakh by the Modi government but the tax exemption slab stood at Rs 2.5 lakh.

“Modi should raise this exemption limit to Rs 8 lakh to give relief to the middle class. I have asked Sena MPs to raise this demand,” he sai.

Responding to BJP president Amit Shah, who had remarked last week that allies who don’t join the alliance for the Lok Sabha polls will get thrashed, Thackeray said, “The one who will thrash Sena has still not taken birth in this world. Those who tried to mess with us in the past have already seen the result.”

In his address at the BJP’s national executive meet on Saturday, the PM had said that the country would prefer a stronger, a “majboot sarkar” instead of a “majboor sarkar”.

Thackeray was also caustic in his criticism of the central government on the Ram temple issue, especially on Prime Minister Modi’s statement that he would wait for the Supreme Court’s verdict.

“Why is the BJP seeking votes in the name of the Ram temple when the matter is still in court? Was there not a court case when the Babri Masjid was demolished?” he asked. He asserted that he had taken up the Ram temple issue ahead of the forthcoming elections to expose the BJP.

He also slammed the BJP for unfairly blaming the Congress for creating hurdles in the construction of the Ram temple. “Why blame the Congress when the BJP’s own allies like Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan are opposed to the temple?” he said. He said that the Congress was thrown out of power due to this issue and the BJP with its clear majority can easily build the temple.

The Sena has continued its acerbic criticism of ally BJP ahead of the 2019 polls even as the party has held informal seat sharing talks with the latter. Both the saffron parties are currently unsure whether the talks will lead to a pact with Thackeray refusing to tone down his criticism.