Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), has criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party by asserting that the CBI, the Income Tax Division, and the Enforcement Directorate are the “only three strong parties” in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Thackeray also criticized the Centre for the ethnic unrest in Manipur in an interview with Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, who serves as executive editor of Shiv Sena (UBT) publication “Saamana.” He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t even prepared to travel to the northeastern state.
Attacking the BJP-led NDA at a recent gathering, Thackeray said that when elections are near, the BJP’s administration is the NDA government. It will become the Modi-government after the elections are finished, he continued. Last week in Delhi, 38 of the NDA’s party leaders gathered.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) was one of 26 opposition parties that gathered in Bengaluru on the same day and unanimously agreed to call their coalition the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). The BJP, which is now in power, is under fire from the opposition for allegedly utilizing federal institutions against them.
“The NDA includes 36 parties. The only three powerful parties in the NDA are the ED, CBI, and Income Tax. The other parties are where? In the interview, which was published in its whole in ‘Saamana’ on Wednesday, Thackeray said that some parties do not even have a single MP.
Regarding the uniform civil code, Thackeray said that the BJP should first introduce legislation outlawing the slaughter of cows from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. The former chief minister of Maharashtra said that if everyone is treated equally under the law, then the BJP’s corrupt members should also face punishment. Furthermore, he said that the Thackeray family is the “real Shiv Sena” in India.
According to Thackeray, those who orchestrated the Shiv Sena’s split believed it would be destroyed, but it is again resurgent. He said that it is also a gift in disguise since many of the veterans who revolted had long held those positions, and now fresh people may fill them.
The rebellion by MLA Eknath Shinde and 39 other lawmakers against the Shiv Sena leadership in June of last year caused the party to split and the fall of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi administration. With the help of the BJP, Shinde subsequently was elected chief minister.
Regarding the petitions calling for the removal of 16 Shiv Sena legislators, including Maharashtra’s chief minister Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said that his party is free to appeal to the Supreme Court if state assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar does not uphold the law.
