No compromise on Hindutva: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

The Shiv Sena will not compromise on the issue of Hindutva, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said. "We are firm on Hindutva and would remain firm on it...no ifs and buts about it," said Uddhav, the Shiv Sena President and leader of Maha Vikas Aghadi, that comprises of NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena alliance.

In an interview with Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana and its Hindi tabloid version, Uddhav said that he had become the Chief Minister to fulfill the promise given to his late father and Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

As to whether he is an "accidental CM" like Dr. Manmohan Singh was often referred to as "accidental PM", Uddhav, known for his sense of humour, said: "Maybe....but I speak more than him."

Uddhav also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Minister and now Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis. "I got sandwiched between the elder brother and younger brother," he told Saamana Executive Editor Sanjay Raut in a three-part interview, his first-ever after assuming the top job.

The 59-year-old Uddhav, a photographer-par-excellence, said that he has no "dream or ambition" to become the CM, but when he realised that the promise made to his father could not be fulfilled by staying with the BJP, he decided to accept the bigger responsibility.

"Interest of the state and country was bigger than any ideology," he said to a question on allying with the Congress and NCP. Citing previous BJP-led governments at the Centre, he said: "Are the ideologies of BJP and (Lok Janshakti Party leader) Ram Vilas Paswan, (JD(U) president) Nitish Kumar, (Trinamool Congress chief) Mamata Banerjee and (TDP head) N Chandrababu Naidu same?.... In Kashmir, there was an alliance with the PDP and talks were held with separatists. The interest of the state and country is bigger than ideology."

"I was not new to political power as I have seen my father wield it.....but the chair (of CM) came unexpectedly...."My becoming chief minister is the first step towards fulfilling the promise made to my father," he said.

He accused the BJP of going back on its promise. "Promises are supposed to be fulfilled. There are sadness and anger of breaking a promise and then I had no option. I don't know if the BJP has recovered from the shock. What big did I ask... the moon or stars? I just reminded them about what was agreed upon before the Lok Sabha elections," he said referring to the meeting with BJP leadership ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

On what changed his earlier stand of going alone in the elections, Thackeray said, "When (the then BJP president and Union Home Minister) Amit Shah paid a visit to me, I felt what is the harm in starting all over again."