‘Gaddar’ to ‘chaalis chor’: Aaditya Thackeray’s sharp attacks on Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde
Leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena Aaditya Thackeray said on Friday described the MLAs and MPs who ditched him to move to CM Eknath Shinde’s camp as ‘gaddaars (traitors)’. While both the factions have got new names to fight local elections, both camps claim to be the ‘real Shiv Sena’.
‘GADDAARI: NO OTHER WORD TO DESCRIBE THEIR ACTION’
Speaking about the future of the ‘Shiv Sena’ Aaditya Thackeray said that it was not a question of whether the party was in crisis. “We are fighting it out. It cannot be worse than what we have come to. They (Eknath Shinde-BJP) have run away with 40 gaddaars MLAs and 12 gaddaar MPs from our party. It is important to see today what happens to the ideals of our Constitution and the democracy,” Aaditya Thackeray said.
“I call this gaddaari, because there is no other appropriate word to describe people who run away to another party. If this gets legitimized and happens across the country, there will be political unrest in every state. You will have random people claiming names and logos of parties,” he said.
The Eknath Shinde-led government came to power after the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June this year. Uddhav Thackeray quit as Maharashtra Chief Minister shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that he must prove his majority. The Shiv Sena chief was left with only 13 MLAs after a Shinde-led revolt that played out in three BJP-ruled states — Gujarat, Assam and Goa. Aditya Thackeray held the portfolios for the Higher Education, Tourism, and Environment ministries in the Uddhav Thackeray Cabinet.
ARABIAN NIGHTS AND MAHARASHTRA POLITICS
Aaditya Thackeray intensified his attack on the 40 ‘gaddar‘ MLAs and said that the number 40 had a significant meaning in Arabian Nights (a collection of middle-eastern folk tales), alluding to the story of ‘Ali Baba and 40 thieves’.
“To steal a mandate and an elected government. A pre-poll alliance had been agreed upon with the BJP on the basis of 2.5 years (power sharing). If that had been adhered to, by now Devendra (Fadnavis) ji would have been the CM. But we believe in our principles,” he said.
‘MONSTROUS AMBITION OF ONE MAN’
He said that Shiv Sena allied with the NCP and the Congress as they believed in democracy and wanted to work to develop Maharashtra. “We believe in promises. We believe in ‘praan jay par vachan na jaye’. We wanted to work for a better Maharashtra. But for the monstrous ambitions of one man, they have taken Maharashtra behind.
With the power in Maharashtra slipping from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena (now known as ‘Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’), and workers regularly migrating to CM Eknath Shinde’s camp, Balasaheb Thackeray’s son has the uphill task of reviving the party ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in 2024.
‘MASKS OF TREACHERY’
Responding to allegations of Uddhav Thackeray refusing to meet the MLAs, Aaditya Thackeray said that his father would hold a video conference during the Covid-induced lockdown every week. “If you see their our our Twitter accounts, you will find photos of us with them with our masks on,” he said.
“While we were wearing masks for Covid, they wore a mask of treachery,” he added.
