‘They Can Steal Symbol, But Not Lord Ram’, Uddhav Thackeray’s Dig at BJP, Amit Shah
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery, being stripped of the ‘Bow & Arrow’ Shiv Sena symbol, on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for doing “low-level politics,” and attacked Home Minister Amit Shah for celebrating it.
Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Thackeray accused the saffron party of doing low-level politics by taking away their ‘mashaal’ (flaming torch).
“They can steal the ‘bow & arrow’ but they can’t take out Lord Ram from the hearts of people,” Thackery said after the Election Commission recognized the Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena.
On the home minister, he said, “someone who visited Pune yesterday asked how things were going in Maharashtra. Then someone said it was a very good day, because the name and symbol of Shiv Sena was given. So then he (Amit Shah) said very well, ‘Mogambo khush hua’.”
He further said that Shah did not keep his word and turned his back on the party.
“Amit Shah gave me a word. I demanded that because I had given a word to my father on his last day that I will make sure that a Shivsainik sits on the CM’s chair. Amitji said ‘okay’, he said.
“And after that ‘okay’, you can all see what happened,” he added.
Thackery also spoke about Shah’s comment of him leaving the BJP alliance and going to Congress after the 2014 elections.
“I didn’t go to the Congress. BJP pushed me. In 2014, I did not break the alliance, the BJP did. I was a Hindu then. I am a Hindu now,” he said.
Thackeray’s comments come on the same day Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about him in Maharashtra.
“In 2019, Uddhav Thackeray campaigned with us but when poll results came, he forgot about all the ideologies and fell on Sharad Pawar’s feet & requested to make him CM. BJP doesn’t have greed for power & we will never forget our ideologies,” Shah said.
Speaking further on his commitment and loyalty to the Hindutva ideology, Thackery said: “my father taught me Hindutva. BJP’s Hindutva is different. It’s all about making people fight with others and take power. Our Hindutva is linked with the country.”
On Friday, Thackeray had termed EC’s order recognizing Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena as “dangerous for democracy”, and said that he would challenge it in the Supreme Court.
Speaking at a press conference hours after the EC decision, Thackeray accused the poll panel of having become the Union government’s slave. “It may even take away our symbol of flaming torch tomorrow,” he said.
He also appealed to his followers not to give up, and fight the battle to win. The party and people were with him, he said.
‘Let the thieves rejoice for a few days,” he said, reacting to the setback to his faction. He also accused Shinde of stealing party founder Balasaheb Thackeray’s photo, party and symbol, adding that he will not be able to “digest this theft for long”.
