Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday downplayed the alliance of the parties led by Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj, saying it will not make any significant difference and that their coming together was an attempt for their own political survival.
Ending months of speculation, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Wednesday formally announced the alliance of their parties ahead of the January 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Talking to reporters here after the announcement, CM Fadnavis said, "Their track record is of corruption and self-interest. Their alliance is for their own political survival and it will not make any significant political difference. It is childish if anyone thinks otherwise. People will not get swayed."
''Mumbai will stand firm with our government. People will see Mahayuti government's performance, its vision for the future and for ensuring that Marathi people get homes in the city," Fadnavis said.
The CM mocked the hype around the joint press conference of the Thackeray cousins in Mumbai, saying it was much ado about nothing.
"The television news channels were reporting as if it was the Russia-Ukaine alliance,'' he said.
"Thackerays are not the lone representatives of Marathi people and Mumbai," Fadnavis said, adding that it was because of their ego that the citizens of Mumbai have gone away from them.
''Uddhav Thackeray will have to give a reply on 25 years of the civic misrule. Old sins cannot be washed away. I am a born Hindutvawadi and will die like that. I am not the one to wear saffron robes and change political stands for votes," Fadnavis attacked the Sena (UBT) chief.
"People of Mumbai and Maharashtra are Hindutvawadi, and those who indulge in appeasement and deviate from Hindutva ideology have seen the result in the assembly elections. Our Hindutva is not narrow-minded. It is the Indian way of life," he said.
The undivided Shiv Sena ruled the BMC for more than two decades.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar said "Marathi voters" were asking why Uddhav and Raj Thackeray had split up earlier.
"No Marathi person had demanded the formation of a separate party (when Raj Thackeray quit the Shiv Sena)," he said.
Shelar also recalled Raj Thackeray's statements while forming the MNS, when he had claimed that Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray had been surrounded by a "coterie" that created distance between the uncle and nephew.
"Today, Marathi people are asking Raj Thackeray to name those people who allegedly created this distance with Balasaheb," he said.
Raj had also termed these people a bunch of clerks, Shelar said, seeking to know who these 'clerks' were.
"And why is Raj Thackeray now shaking hands with and embracing the same people?" the BJP leader asked.
Raj Thackeray had publicly played videos criticising BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, accusing them of not fulfilling promises, he recalled.
"We have preserved many such video clips of Raj Thackeray's speeches attacking the Shiv Sena leadership after he quit the party," Shelar warned.
The new-found bonhomie between Uddhav and Raj Thackeray was driven by political insecurity, he claimed. "When the BJP challenged the Thackerays' monopoly over Mumbai, both Uddhav and Raj felt threatened. For their own political survival, they have now come together," he said.