Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray. Image Courtesy: ANI
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Thursday lashed out at prime minister Narendra Modi saying that the expectations and aspirations of the common man are not being met by his dispensation.
"People have started switching off their TV (sets) when Modi speaks," Thackeray said addressing a mammoth public morcha in south Mumbai after meeting the general managers of Western Railway and Central Railway in the wake of the Elphinstone Road FoB stampede in which 23 people lost their lives, last week.
"If you switch off the TV and switch on the radio, there is maan ki baat....what is this?...how much the prime minister speaks," he said.
He also asked the CR and WR chiefs to ensure that there are no hawkers on the FoB. "I have given an ultimatum of 15 days....and if it does not happen, on 16th day my people will do it...and MNS as a party and MNS workers would not be responsible," he said.
He also vehemently opposed the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. "This bullet train is for a handful of Gujaratis of Mumbai and Ahmedabad," he said, amidst thunderous applause. "I am told that Suresh Prabhu was removed as railway minister as replaced by Piyush Goyal as the former opposed the bullet train project," he said.
Quoting RBI governor Urjit Patil, he said that the inflationary phase is going to continue.
Thackeray, the nephew of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, said: "People had lot of faith in him...but what happened?...What Modi said earlier and what he says now....the old videos of Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister is going viral...what he spoke of economy, what he spoke of bullet train, what he says of petroleum prices...and what is the situation now is known to people," he said and pointed out that people are slowly speaking against the ruling dispensation now.