‘It’s good Balasaheb isn’t here, he would have been distressed’: Raj Thackeray on Maharashtra’s current scenario | Mumbai News
MUMBAI: As the Thackeray cousins shared a dais for the first time after the BMC polls at an event to mark the start of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray’s centenary year, Raj said he was “deeply disturbed” by what was happening in Kalyan-Dombivli and described the developments there as “disgusting”.The five MNS corporators in KDMC earlier this week declared their support to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and while alocal MNS ex-MLA said they had consulted Raj and he had given his “nod,” UBT Sena MP Sanjay Raut had said Raj was “distraught”.
Sharing a dais for the first time after the BMC poll results, the Thackeray cousins put to rest speculation that there was friction between them after MNS’ support to Sena in KDMC.Raj said in his speech, “Earlier, people used to be auctioned in the bazaar. Today, auctions are on in Maharashtra like that. It’s happening in all districts. Seeing the current picture, I feel it is disgusting.” Uddhav said many were trying to wipe off the ‘Thackeray’ name but hadn’t succeeded.Raj said, “After seeing today’s scenario in Maharashtra, I feel it is a good thing Balasaheb is not here. How distressed he would have been to see the situation. What pain that man would have felt.”Uddhav Thackeray said that he would “start afresh” after the BMC poll results and soon visit shakhas across Mumbai and tour the state. Without naming PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, he said, “These two businessmen are using our own sticks to beat us with.” Without naming Dy CM Eknath Shinde, Uddhav asked what he had achieved by taking down Chhatrapati Shivaji’s saffron flag from atop Mumbai (BMC).Uddhav praised his party activists, saying they had fought the battle for Mumbai well and stopped those trying to erase the ‘Thackeray’ name. He said, “Raj and I spent our childhood together. We are children who grew up playing amid storms, so no one needs to teach us how to fight a storm. Only the one who has responsibility on his shoulders can understand how difficult it is to bear the responsibility of a storm as one has to fight it. Even if we think of the days before Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, betrayal is not new. This is our curse. When victory is impossible, our enemy takes help from traitors.”Uddhav claimed money had been used for the first time in Mumbai during elections and said, “Mumbaikars should think about who is protecting them and who is doing business. We are fighting and will fight. You (UBT Sena workers) have managed to retain all our bastions in Mumbai.” He added, “We have to start anew. Let’s start anew.”In an article of his published in Saamna on Friday, Raj, referring to his exit from Shiv Sena in 2005, wrote, “More than quitting the party, leaving the house was more painful. I had lost my father, and I was now going far away from my uncle. The thought was eating me up.” Not being able to meet Balasaheb frequently hurt him more than the political rupture itself, he noted.Raj wrote that the struggle Balasaheb waged for the Marathi language and Marathi people would continue. Even when political circumstances forced Balasaheb to take flexible positions, Raj said, his love for the Marathi people never waned. “Those values have shaped us,” he wrote, vowing any flexibility in his own politics would never be for personal gain. “I give my word once again today that even if I take a slightly flexible stance in this completely transformed politics, it will never be for my personal gain or selfish interests,” he stated. Raj added his faith — and that of his party’s workers — in the words ‘Balasaheb’ and ‘Marathi’ would not diminish.
