'Raid after raid, your turn will also come': CM Uddhav Thackeray warns BJP

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. File Pic

Breaking his silence on action against MVA leaders and their associates, CM Uddhav Thackeray said attempts to gain power by persecuting the Opposition were undemocratic and perverse. "There are raids after raids, but remember that their turn will also come," he said, referring to the central agencies acting against the MVA and anti-BJP leaders across the country.

Thackeray said a power hungry BJP has spoiled and deformed Indian politics. "Who doesn't want power? But one should not forget democracy and go to the people to win the mandate. Misusing power at your disposal to gain power is wrong," he said at an anniversary function of Marathi daily Loksatta on Friday. Commenting on the present situation, he said a power hungry BJP has spoiled and deformed Indian politics. The CM said the reason for the state-Centre conflict lies in New Delhi's policy.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

"It is more pleasant to come back without telling the world that I will come back again," he said, in an obvious reference to ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis's poll campaign in 2019. "People have given them [the BJP] power [at the Centre]. They should use it for the people. They heap allegations on us as if they are the purest kind and we all are from gutters. There is a wave of perversion in the country along with the Coronavirus pandemic," he said, adding that the ruling party's actions smacked of vengeance.

Commenting on the efforts towards forging a larger anti-BJP alliance at the national level, he said his recent meeting with his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao was not all about throwing the BJP out, but was focused mainly on a common effort to introspect what has gone wrong in the past 75 years. "All parties need to discuss at national level what has happened to us and where we went wrong. It is all about the country and the states," he said, adding that though no party is bound to join the forces, the Shiv Sena would jump the bandwagon if it is in the national interest. Thackeray said he followed the BJP in joining hands with ideologically different parties, pointing out indirectly at the BJP's short-lived government before the MVA came into being.

‘Everything has stooped so low'

When asked if he would still forge an alliance with the BJP in future, the CM said, "Will they mend their ways? Ours was an ideological pact [which broke later twice]. But everything has stooped so low." Thackeray said his health is much better and he will attend the budget session and later work from Mantralaya. "It was an unexpected experience [spine ailment]. I had physical weakness, but I know that self-confidence and persistence will make everything better henceforth."