BJP lost a 'staunch supporter' in Shiv Sena: Uddhav

Slamming BJP president Amit Shah, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said the upcoming electoral battles are no "friendly matches" and the BJP has lost a "staunch supporter" who backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi even after the Gujarat riots.

"The BJP President says this is a friendly match between them while the state leaders call this a 'Mahabharat’ between 'Kauravas' and 'Pandavas'. I want to tell Amit Shah this is no friendly match now. You have lost one who has always backed you and has been your staunch supporter. A supporter who backed Modi after the Gujarat riots when everybody was against him," he told in his first BMC poll rally here.

Shah had last Sunday said there were no differences with the Sena and that he hoped its decision to contest the Maharashtra civic polls independently was not going to cause damage to the alliance.

Thackeray said he does not want to play the politics of alliance anymore after having seen the behaviour meted out to the Sena.

"In future Sena will be alone only on the support of the Shiv Sainiks," he said.

Quoting Shah, Thackeray said when he says there are no differences and only 'manbhed' (differences of the heart) between the estranged allies, the BJP should come clean on the issues on which there is a 'manbhed'.

"We will not leave the cause of Hindutva. If you do, there is 'manbhed'. If you do not stop the atrocities being conducted by Pakistan, there is 'manbhed'. If you give money to the family of Burhan Wani after he was killed, there is 'manbhed'. If farmers land is snatched and given to industrialists and if people are made to stand in long queues due to demonetisation, there is 'manbhed'," the Sena chief said.

Thackeray said the "mask" of transparency the state BJP leaders had been wearing all along has been removed by its own government at the Centre as the Economic survey tabled in Parliament has ranked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation as the most transparency body in the country.

"Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) said he will show the Sena its place on the day of results. I thank him for saying so as he has sealed our win with these comments. Even during the previous polls, the then Chief Minister had said Sena will nowhere be seen but today that Chief Minister is nowhere to be seen. We are here," he said.

"Recently when I had met the Chief Minister (Fadnavis) during a BMC programme, I had told him we are ready to give him credit even though no work has been done by them. But one should have the capacity to take free credit as well," Thackeray said.

He said historically, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister do not go for campaign for local polls, but the current PM and the CM have no time to administer as they are busy campaigning for as small as society polls.

"How and when will they administer then?" he questioned.

"What kind of administration is this? Make big promises before polls and forget all of them later. This culture was never seen before and will never be seen in future as well," he said.

Referring to the foundation stone laying ceremony of a memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji, Thackeray said it has been over a year since the foundation stone for Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial was laid by the PM at Indu mills, but not a single brick has been laid as yet.

Referring to the BJP's call for suggestions for its manifesto, Thackeray said they have not understood Mumbai and wants to understand it from the citizens and are thus asking for suggestions.