The Dussehra rally of the Shiv Sena is considered the occasion when the party chief makes the political line clear for the workers, asking them to take it to the villages of Maharashtra. In the 57th rally, the second after the split in the Shiv Sena and the first after losing the party name and symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction, Uddhav Thackeray, now chief of Shiv Sena (UBT), didn’t disappoint the cadres as he fiercely commented on issues both national and local.
In his 50-minute speech, Uddhav followed the legacy of his father and late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray by making each issue related to his party clear to the workers and giving them counters against points raised by their opponents.
In his opening remarks, Uddhav attacked Eknath Shinde, saying, “It’s been 57 years since we are holding the annual Dussehra rally. Some tried to disturb it but we are continuing this tradition. As a tradition of Dussehra today, we will be burning the effigy of ‘Khokasur’ (Shiv Sena calls the Shinde government the ‘Khoka government’). Some are trying to take away Shiv Sena from us. As of now, they have taken the party name and symbol. But they don’t know that we have a torch, with which will burn their Lanka soon.”
Uddhav also launched a direct attack on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by comparing them with Adolf Hitler. “Once Hitler also got the majority of votes in the name of development, but now Germans feel ashamed of him as all know what he did when he came to power. The BJP accuses us of nepotism but what is wrong with it? There are some families with a strong track record of working for the people and there is no wrong in supporting such a family. I feel proud that I come from such a family. But a person who doesn’t even believe in the family system should not speak against this,” said Uddhav.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief also admitted that in 2014, all partners of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) including the Shiv Sena had supported Narendra Modi to form the government. “We supported Modi in 2014. At that time Pranab Mukherjee was the President and he was of the opinion that stability would come in the nation when there would be rule of one party. But what happened after that? I am of the opinion that when there is a coalition, it works better than a single-party rule,” he said.
With inputs from News18
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