Uddhav Thackeray: If Mizoram and Telangana can do it, why can't you?

Uddhav Thackeray says it's high time a regional party like the Shiv Sena was elected to rule Maharashtra

Dismissing the BJP's outreach to its allies in the wake of recent electoral defeats, the Shiv Sena has toughened its stand over remaining in the NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, projecting itself as the next ruling party in Maharashtra.

Sena President Uddhav Thackeray said on Monday that he would ensure that the party forms the state government, and appealed to voters to follow Telangana and Mizoram, where people have preferred regional parties over national parties.

Thackeray also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of managing clean chits in the Rafael scam and Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, but delaying Ram Temple dispute for political gain. He said if Reliance could get the Rafael contract without experience in manufacturing defence aircraft, then self-help groups of women who roll chapatis should get the job of making bullets for soldiers.

He was addressing the second leg of his Ram Mandir campaign in the holy town of Pandharpur, also called the Kashi of the south. He reiterated his resolve to build the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, where he had held a rally exactly a month ago. He said the BJP still had time to debate the issue in Parliament, where his party would support the temple. But he asked it to check with Nitish Kumar and Ramvilas Paswan, who were given more seats to share, whether they would approve of the mandir.

He said he wasn't there to talk about a pact with BJP because he had left that to the people of Maharashtra. He said the Sena would not fall for BJP's Hindutva again. He challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Maharashtra just once for longer and see the distress.

"They (the BJP) had created a myth that they were about to win the world. They said there was no alternative to them, but see what the five states did to them. The tribal people of Chhattisgarh have cleaned the dirt off their home pitch without thinking about the alternative. I want to congratulate the people of Mizoram and Telangana for electing regional parties to power," he said.

"The results are so shocking for some people, they would be ashamed of themselves while campaigning there again (for Lok Sabha)," he told a massive gathering of people that included distressed farmers, labourers, and the lower middle class. Thackeray asked them whether they were brave enough to replicate the results of Telangana and Mizoram. "Can't you do it here? Would you still allow some people to mess?" he asked.

Also read: Uddhav Thackeray uses "chowkidar chor hai" slogan to attack Modi

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