Fadnavis takes on Maha CM, says BJP trying to rid Mumbai of Sena’s corruption

A day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accused the BJP of trying to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said his party did want to free the city but not from the state but from the corruption of the Shiv Sena He said it was Shiv Sena chiefrsquos habit to raise such allegations because the party doesnrsquot have issues to talk aboutFadnavis responded to Thackerayrsquos allegations at the Hindi Bhashi Mahasankalp Sabha a congregation of BJPrsquos local supporters who hail from the Hindi belt of north India at the NESCO Centre Goregaon on Sunday He promised to burn the lsquoLankarsquo equating his rally with the congregation of Pandavas and the Senarsquos with the KauravasCorruptionfree MumbaildquoIt is not possible for anyone to break the city from the state He Thackeray talks such things when he doesnrsquot have any other issue to talk about Yes we want to free the city but from the Senarsquos corruption in the BMC We want to create Mumbai which all of us would be proud ofrdquo said the former CM adding that Thackeray had no answer to the questions the BJP had raised over corruption in the BMC Fadnavis added ldquoYou said you are Mumbairsquos fatherhellip but there is only one father of the city and the stateChhatrapati Shivaji MaharajhelliprdquoSonia appeasementFadnavis said Thackerayrsquos speech was dedicated to Congress president Sonia Gandhi ldquoHe spoke the language that the Congress uses against the RSS By abusing the RSS he indicated he was with Sonia Gandhi and the CongressrdquoDismissing Thackerayrsquos charge that the BJPrsquos parent body the RSS did not participate in the countryrsquos freedom struggle and if it did someone should produce evidence Fadnavis said the organisationrsquos founder Dr K B Hedgewar and many of his associates were officially listed as the freedom fighters ldquoOn the other hand you were on the side of Indira Gandhi who imposed the Emergencyrdquo he addedHe also linked Thackerayrsquos refusal to rename Aurangabad after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje to Gandhirsquos appeasement ldquoIt appeared as if Thackeray was urging Gandhi madam donrsquot withdraw your support to the governmenthellip I will not rename Aurangabadhelliprdquo Fadnavis promised to change the name when the BJP comes back to powerlsquoModi is real HindursquoldquoThackeray said he didnrsquot want a Hindu who strokes temple bells but tames terrorist Before you raised question over the killing of Kashmiri Pandits the new India that Modi has created avenged the death by killing three terrorists within 24 hoursrdquo said Fadnavis calling Modi the only tiger the country has ldquoBalasaheb Thackeray was a tigerhellip and now there is only one tigerhellip Narendra Modirdquo he added ldquoOne cannot become a tiger by photographingrdquo he said CM Thackeray is a trained photographerturnedpoliticianHe took pot shots at Thackeray for comparing the meeting of PM with the CMs to an IPL game ldquoThackeray also runs the government like an IPL game He doesnrsquot talk about development The king should leave his palace to understand the ground issuesrdquo Fadnavis saidThe BJP leader wondered why Thackeray remained silent when AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi prayed at the Mughal emperor Aurangzebrsquos tomb in Aurangabad ldquoI want to tell Owaisi that one day the saffron flag will be hoisted across the countryrdquo he saidBabri demolitionThe CM had ridiculed Fadnavisrsquos claim that he was present when Babri masjid was demolished in 1992 and poked him over his weight saying ldquoThe structure could have collapsed even if you had tried to climb uphelliprdquoFadnavis said Thackeray could decrease his political weight by backstabbing him but he would not rest until ldquoyour political structure is demolishedrdquo The BJP leader said he was a 22yearold civic corporator and lawyer when he was present at the demolition without fearing a bullet ldquoI weighed 128 kg then I was also present when the Kothari brothers fell to police bullets during kar seva a year before and I was put in the Badaun jail in Uttar Pradesh We waited for the people from Shiv Sena to join us in the jail but nobody camehellip And before the kar seva I had been to Kashmir where I faced lathis and saw bullets firing I have reached where Irsquom today by doing all this Irsquom not born with a silver spoon Where were you in any of the agitation and strugglerdquo he asked declaring that he would perform kar seva if needed in the futureFadnavis said he was happy that his early morning swearingin did not succeed ldquoEven if it had succeeded my cabinet would not have the Wazes and Maliksrdquo He also cautioned Thackeray to be aware of Sharad Pawar ldquowho your late father ridiculed as a sack of flour and you became a CM by rubbing your nose on the same sackrdquo