Uddhav Thackeray bats for ‘mili-juli sarkar’ in Dussehra speech, invokes Vajpayee. 10 factors

Thackeray additionally lashed out at his former support and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, daring him to name the Assembly elections on the earliest to establish the actual claimant of Shiv Sena. 

Here are the ten key highlights:

– Despite losing the Shiv Sena name and electoral image to rival Shinde, Thackeray asserted that the majority of the social gathering’s cadre are with him, including that his group is the actual claimant to the legacy of late Sena founder and his father Bal Thackeray.

– “Conduct the elections (in Maharashtra) and the individuals of Maharashtra will inform you (Eknath Shinde) who’s the actual Shiv Sena. I problem you to conduct election in Maharashtra,” news agency ANI quoted Thackeray as saying.

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– Thackeray, while sharing his thoughts on the national political scenario, said the the country needs a strong government but not a one-party brute majority rule.

– Thackeray batted for a “mili-juli sarkar”, as he made a reference to the central governments that have been headed by former PM Manmohan Singh, and his predecessors – PV Narsimha Rao and Vajpayee. The Shiv Sena, then headed by his father, was a part of the Vajpayee-led NDA authorities between 1998 and 2004.

– “We noticed a powerful authorities. There ought to be a powerful authorities, however not of anybody social gathering with a brute majority,” the Sena (UBT) president said, targeting his former alliance partner, the Centre-ruling BJP.  

– Further hitting out at the BJP, Thackeray claimed that neither the party nor its predecessor Jana Sangh took party in the freedom movement, the Marathwada liberation struggle or the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, that led to the formation of the state of Maharashtra in 1960. 

– A significant portion of Thackeray’s speech was aimed at targeting Shinde, who led a rebellion in the undivided Sena last year and led to the downfall of the government headed by him. In a chilling warning to rivals, Thackeray, according to news agency PTI, said: “After we come to power, we will hang upside down those who are harassing us.” 

– Thackeray additionally spoke on the Maratha reservation challenge throughout his speech, as he accused the state authorities of mishandling the state of affairs.

“Like Jallianwala Bagh, there was lathi-charge on Marathas within the Sarati villages. Eknath Shinde’s authorities is General Dyer’s authorities,” NDTV quoted Thackeray as saying. He was referring to the lathi-charge against the protesters in September, which had drawn flak from several quarters.

– Meanwhile, Shinde, in his annual Dussehra speech at the Azad Maidan, alleged that Thackeray showed greed for power in the aftermath of the 2019 Assembly elections. He wanted to become the chief minister but portrayed as if he has been asked to take over by the alliance partners, he alleged.

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Updated: 24 Oct 2023, 10:31 PM IST