BJP would have died of malnutrition if Bal Thackeray had not fed it: Uddhav Thackeray

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Maharashtra): Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party would have "died of malnutrition" if his late father, Sena founder Bal Thackeray had not come to its rescue.

The former Maharashtra chief minister was speaking at a rally here ahead of the January 15 civic elections in the city and across the state.

BJP leader Raosaheb Danve had said earlier that "every political party has eaten out of our plate", implying that all political parties had received help from the BJP at some point.

Reacting to the remark, Thackeray said, "If the Shiv Sena chief (Bal Thackeray) hadn't fed you, you would have died of malnutrition. If this is so, why are you eating leftovers from our plate? How much more will you consume? It seems you have contracted 'Bhasmya' (insatiable hunger) disease. How many of our people will you take?" The BJP, notably, first came to power in Maharashtra in the 1990s in an alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena when late Bal Thackeray headed the party.

Uddhav, meanwhile, also claimed that money was being distributed through UPI and attempt was being made to ensure that no opposition candidate remains in the fray.

"The police should look into to this seriously if they are awake," Thackeray added.

His party's name and symbol were taken away but the people stayed with him, he claimed, adding, "Now we will make a fresh start, just as we did in 1988. We have so many new faces now." Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar receives water for only 44 days in a year, Thackeray said, adding that when he was chief minister, the state government had proposed to fund the water pipeline scheme for the city entirely.

"But this government made the city take a loan for the project and yet it is incomplete," he claimed.

Thackeray also targeted the BJP over the appointment of a co-accused in the Badlapur sexual abuse case as a 'co-opted' councillor in Kulgaon-Badlapur Municipal Council.

"We expected that the (main) accused in the Badlapur case will be brought to justice through a fast-track court. But he was killed in an encounter, which created suspicion that he was killed so that further names would not come to light. But Tushar Apte, a co-accused, was made a co-opted member in Badlapur local body, saying that he had helped them (BJP) win elections. This is the sick mindset of BJP," Thackeray said.

Apte was the secretary of a school where two children were allegedly sexually assaulted by an attendant, who was later killed in a police "encounter". Apte was named in a case registered against the school management for allegedly failing to report the offence.

He resigned after his appointment as a councillor led to controversy.

Uddhav, meanwhile, also said that if Bangladeshis have infiltrated the country and state as the BJP keeps claiming, it is the failure of the central government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"The ruling parties are only making the people of different communities quarrel among themselves. The country is being taken towards anarchy as the cities are being pushed under debt burden," he said.