Uddhav does a volte-face

In a volte-face, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday sought the support of the Gujarati community for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. On Thursday, Uddhav had slammed the community through the party mouthpiece “Saamana”.

In a statement issued late noon, the Sena chief said that Bal Thackeray always felt that if the Marathi and Gujarati communities was united, they could perform “miracles”. The voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha election has shown that this wonderful “miracle” is about to happen, he added.

Sensing a political advantage, Uddhav in his new avatar said: “Now, wait and watch what happens further. The unity of the Gujarati-Marathi communities will not crack or break. In all the future elections, they (Marathis and Gujaratis) must display this unity and help achieve Bal Thackeray’s dreams. Let us unfurl the Hindutva flag on Parliament and the state Assembly.” 

In a clever move, the Sena chief made a scathing attack on the Gujarati community in the editorial asking whether they, who had supported BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, would rally behind the Shiv Sena-led “Grand Alliance” in the 2014 Assembly elections.

The editorial even alleged that the Gujaratis and other non-Marathi businessmen had extracted a lot from Mumbai and had been using the city like an “attractive prostitute” to construct their own Dwarkas (cities of gold).