Aaditya Thackeray said Sena (UBT)'s Hindutva brings everyone together
Mumbai:
A day after Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Abu Azmi said his party would quit the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, Shiv Sena (UBT) lawmaker Aaditya Thackeray said the Samajwadi Party in Maharashtra sometimes behaved like “BJP's B- team”. The Sena (UBT) leader clarified that his comments did not refer to Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav. “Akhilesh ji is fighting… but here they are sometimes behaving like BJP's B-team. We have seen this before too,” he said.
Azmi's announcement followed a newspaper advertisement and a social media post by a Sena UBT legislative council member, who was known to be close to party chief Uddhav Thackeray. On December 6, which marked the 32nd anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Sena (UBT) leader Milind Narvekar made a post on social media with a picture of the demolition and a quote from Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray: “ I am proud of those who did this”. The poster also featured pictures of Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA son Aaditya Thackeray.
In a strong response, Mr Azmi told news agency PTI: “An advertisement was placed by Shiv Sena (UBT) in a newspaper congratulating those who demolished the Babri Mosque. His (Uddhav Thackeray) aide also posted on X hailing the demolition of the mosque. We are leaving the MVA. I am speaking to Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party president).
“If someone in the MVA speaks such language, what is the difference between the BJP and them? Why should we stick with them?” he said, adding, “Congress must decide whether it can ally with someone who speaks like that.”
Mr Thackeray today said: “Our Hindutva is clear, we have never said that we are not Hindutvawadi. Our Hindutva has Ram in its heart and kaam (work) in its hands. Our Hindutva brings everyone together. B teams should not teach us anything, Maharashtra has seen Uddhav Thackeray bring everyone forward together.”
Aaditya Thackeray's comments provoked a response from Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh. “We asked two questions. Firstly, are you moving towards a hardcore Hindutva ideology? Second, we asked: who gave you the votes? Without clarifying these points, Aaditya has made an accusation that we strongly oppose. This is wrong, and we will do it. talk to senior leaders about this.”
