Maha CM Thackeray slams BJP for its ‘misguided’ Hindutva

Mumbai: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray wrapped up his public meeting in Aurangabad city on Wednesday night, with an anecdotal reference to a Rajesh Khanna movie ‘Aaj Ka MLA’ in an oblique reference to inflation across India.

“In the movie, the MLA (with Khanna as CM) is approached to hike commodity prices from Rs25 to Rs50 by traders. He ordered a hike of Rs100 instead explaining that after expected public outcry over the price rise, he would announce a reduction of Rs50, exactly what the traders wanted to begin with,” Thackeray said in reference to current petroleum prices in the country.

Criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s brand of Hindutva (as predicted by First India in its June 07 issue), he said, “Once the BJP sought a Bharat bandh during Ganesh Chaturthi. As it was unlikely to happen without the Shiv Sena’s support, I spoke to Balasaheb (Thackeray) as the bandh’s date coincided with the festival. He did not support the bandh.”

The chief minister also spoke about his conversation with senior BJP leader, the late Sushma Swaraj, when the latter had said that enforcing a bandh on one out of 10 days of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival would not hurt. “I told Sushmaji that all the ten days of the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi were of immense significance to Hindus. And then, I rejected the BJP’s call for a bandh.”

“In Sambhajinagar (officially known as Aurangabad) we have reduced existing water tariffs by 50%. It is not a superficial reduction like we see in fuel prices,” he added.

Earlier, he took on the BJP for the spate of raids and actions against Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents through the actions initiated by the Enforcement Directorate, CBI and other central revenue intelligence agencies. “Please use central agencies to also target those gunning down our own Indian Kashmiri Pandits in their homes and workplaces. In which direction is the BJP taking India and Maharashtra?” he questioned.

The CM also noted that he was also a ‘Ram Bhakt’, who carried lord Rama in his heart but his efforts were aimed at providing jobs to people in the state. “We do not discriminate on the basis of religion (like the BJP),” he asserted.