In a fierce attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said while the Centre announced a lockdown and asked people to beat thalis, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government provided full meals to the needy people during the pandemic crisis.
“While people were asked to beat ‘thalis’, we provided full ‘thalis’ (full meals) to people,” Thackeray told the Maharashtra Legislature replying to the motion of thanks to the address of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. “During the Covid-19 lockdown, we helped people reach their homes. In fact, people praised us after reaching their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” Thackeray said in the Assembly.
Koshyari, in his address to the joint session on the opening day of the Legislature on Monday, had mentioned that the government had launched ‘Shiv Bhojan Yojana’ on January 26. “Under the scheme, more than 3.15 crore thalis have been served at just Rs five per thali and expenditure of Rs 125 crore has been incurred by the State Government for the same. This scheme’s success can be ascertained from the fact that daily consumption of thalis has increased from the original 18,000 to 1,38,000,” he had said.
Thackeray also lashed out at BJP and Modi on the issue of Delhi farmers’ agitation and Indo-China row.
“You put nails on roads (to quell the farmers’ protest in Delhi) and retreat against China...,” he said.
However, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis lashed out at Thackeray saying that with such a statement, the Chief Minister insulted the Indian soldiers. “Not an inch of land has gone....our soldiers defended the Chinese aggression under extreme circumstances...and you (Thackeray) make such a kind of statement insulting them,” he told reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan complex.
Thackeray also took a dig at the PM for renaming of Motera stadium after Modi. “India will not lose any cricket match now.... We will not lose any cricket match as the name of the stadium has been changed to Narendra Modi Stadium. We have named the international airport after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj but they have changed Sardar Patel Stadium's name,” he said.
On the issue of renaming of Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar after Shivaji Maharaj’s son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, he said: “We will definitely name Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar...but the Centre is still stuck on the renaming of Aurangabad airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Airport....You have not yet conferred Bharat Ratna on Swatantryaveer Savarkar....We don’t have to learn Hindutva from you,” he said.
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