MNS chief Raj Thackeray says he is disillusioned with the Modi government

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has expressed dismay over the rule of the Narendra Modi-led Central government, calling it a failure.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray(HT File)

Incidentally, in 2011, when Thackeray had gone for nine-day Gujarat tour, he was impressed with the development carried out by Modi, who was then the chief minister. He had said that Modi deserved to be the Prime Minister of India.

“I had believed in Modi and was first to say he should be the Prime Minister of India. I thought he would steer India to progress but in the last three and half, he showed no results,” said Thackeray.

In his speech on Thursday while launching his Facebook page, Thackeray called Modi a liar and said his three and half years tenure was utter failure. “We loved you, gave you a massive mandate as we thought you will do something. However, all we got were just speeches but no result,” said Thackeray.

“What is difference between the Congress and BJP government except for the fact that this government has just changed the colour of the currency?” he remarked on Thursday.

He called demonetisation a failure as 99% of the scrapped money had come back to the banking system, and hence the claim of assault on black money was misleading. He slammed the Modi government, saying the Centre was only good at organising events. “First it was Yoga, then Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan and now football. Now they will come up with another concept and divert the attention of the public,” said Thackeray.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the MNS had declared support to Modi. However, over the time, Thackeray has become a bitter critic of Modi and spared no opportunity to target him.