Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: In the run up to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that Shiv Sena is now free from those who betrayed the ideals of late Balasaheb Thackeray.
“This is ‘azad’ Shiv Sena…and a ‘azad’ Dussehra rally,” said Shinde, the chief leader of Shiv Sena, during the annual Dussehra rally at the historic Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
Shinde also launched a scathing attack on his bete noire and predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, who after the party split now heads the Shiv Sena (UBT).
“We run the government face to face…and not Facebook Live,” Shinde said in a jibe against Thackeray referring to the Covid lockdown period.
“Within two years, this government has become the ladki-sarkar (favourite government),” he said, adding that the Maha Yuti government is committed to the cause of ‘ladki bahin’, ‘ladki bhau’ and ‘ladka shetkari’.
“We rebelled against injustice. If we wouldn’t have rebelled, the real Shiv Sainik would have been insulted, humiliated. Maharashtra would have gone back by a few years…but today we are No 1 in many aspects,” Shinde said, reeling out facts and figures.
“There was a time when Delhi leaders used to come to Mumbai to meet Balasaheb. But now he (Thackeray) goes to Delhi to seek the post of Chief Minister… your own allies don’t accept your face…how will the people of Maharashtra accept it,” said Shinde who with the help of BJP toppled the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“"Balasaheb gave the slogan 'garv se ka ho hum Hindu hain' (say with pride that we are Hindu) …. but some people are shy to say this now,” he said, adding that a true Shiv Sainik would never do that.