'Sena has served city for 50 yrs, BJP leaders don't even reside in Mumbai'

Backstabbing terrorising weak Yuva Sena President Aditya Thackeray uses strong words to describe the BJP and its leaders in an exclusive interview with midday The young Thackeray launched a savage attack on the BJPrsquos policy decisions calling it environmental destruction ldquoToday they are providing WiFi hotspots tomorrow they will have to provide oxygen hotspotsrdquo he saidIn conversation with Aaditya Thackeray at Matoshree PicRane AshishWe are barely a week away from the civic elections What is the emotion in the Sena campThe adrenaline is pumping We are moving ahead and going in alone for the first time in 25 years leaving behind someone who has backstabbed usWhy did the BJPSena alliance come to an endFor us it was an emotional alliance In the last 25 years the BJP trajectory has always grown on Shiv Senarsquos strength Yet there were numerous sainiks complaining that BJP at the centre and state never worked with Sena In an alliance you need to be loyal to your partner which they werenrsquotIs it on the cards to create a stronger Sena presence in DelhiWhy not The Sena is probably the only regional party to have a national nonelectoral presence It is time to expand For us Delhi is a major stage I have always followed the Parliament when it is in session The move is still a couple of years away but when the time is right we will go nationalWhy havenrsquot you gone national alreadyWe never wanted the BJP vote bank to break Even though we were not in alliance outside the state we always followed the alliance dharma of being loyal We had an unsaid rule about not poaching each otherrsquos people In retrospect this move made us fall behind while the BJP marched ahead on our strengthWhat is your view on the upcoming civic electionIt is a makeorbreak election for the BJP In a local election voters do not care about your national view or your take on foreign policy This election has to be based on who works for the city and who provides better utilities and amenities For us education is a prime focus we want to make the best schools in India The Sena is a party that has served the city for 50 years against other parties whose leaders donrsquot even reside in Mumbai Being a Twitter party is one thing but what you accomplish on the road is what actually countsWhat do you think will be the result of the electionWe donrsquot believe that Mumbai will give a fractured verdict the city will support SenaWhat is the worstcase scenario you foresee post the electionIf the Metro project goes through it will result in around 5000 trees being cut This is because of haphazard planning and having a zero sustainable development model They do not even know the city and have termed environmental destruction as development Today they are promising WiFi hotspots tomorrow they will have to provide oxygen hotspots The BJP keeps saying that all permissions are in place but the CM himself has had to go back on his words and say that some permissions were still pending from the Centre with regard with the coastal road It is a highly hypocritical and opaque government at the centreWhat is your take on Mumbairsquos nightlife and how do you plan to improve itMumbai has always been a city that runs day and night Mumbai has never been a curfew city but today it is a city where the home minister is weaker than ever before There has been some noise that you might want to join the Vidhan Sabha as an MLC Is that trueI have never been imposed upon by family members to stand for Vidhan Sabha or not In the same manner I have never been averse to contesting for BMC eitherWhat is your take on demonetisationIf demonetisation was the answer to terrorism then the US would have done it a long time back Today the PM is terrorising the common man while the Swiss bank accounts remain untouched He is peeping into everyonersquos rooms and asking ldquoGhar mein kitna paisa hairdquoNashik goes to election at the same time as Mumbai What do you think will be the result thereFor the last five years there has been a breakaway faction of the Sena ruling Nashik Yet there is a current trend of corporators jumping from the ruling party to the opposing party in Nashik This time there will be a monumental shift of power in Nashik only because of the work that has been done there by us In politics you cannot really go beyond a certain number of years with just marketing gimmicks the groundwork also has to be fitWord is your cousin Amit is unwell Will you visit himI donrsquot think he is in the city We have been looking at reports and asking about his health but want to respect the familyrsquos privacyIn the last three generations of the Thackerays has there been an ideology shiftThere has been a shift but wersquore just keeping up with the times The issues my grandfather took up in the rsquo70s to rsquo90s were relevant to that period He always managed to grasp the pulse of the time which is why there were scores of youth with him at rallies He has always been open to change and being relevant to the times Even when I started the Yuva sena he never once told me that I must not change this or that