Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday said that all his actions from now would be aimed at defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.
Addressing party workers at Rangsharda hall in Bandra, Mr. Thackeray said, “Whatever I do from now on will be to defeat the BJP and Modi. I am telling you this and I will tell the same thing to the voters of the MNS. This danger has to be defeated. Only when these two [Modi and Shah] are sidelined, one can think of party-based politics.”
Mr. Thackeray said the general election was between Modi-Shah and the rest of the country. “I am not bothered over who will reap the benefits, whether it is the Congress or the NCP. I have been saying for a long time that all should come together to realise a Modi-free India. My rallies will be against Modi and Shah.”
‘Need a fresh start’
The MNS chief said the country needed a fresh start for which Modi and Shah have to be sidelined. He told party workers, “The country is in danger and all of you have to hit the road against them. You can start preparing for the Assembly polls.”
Alluding to the ‘chowkidar’ campaign, Mr. Thackeray appealed to voters to not fall for such ‘gimmicks’. He said, “This is all being done to divert your attention from the real issue of employment, deteriorating economic condition and other failures.” Taunting Mr. Modi, he said, “How can the Prime Minister of India be of such small ideas?”
In response to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s comment that he was a parrot of Baramati as his speeches were allegedly being written by NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the MNS chief showed various videos of Mr. Modi attacking the NCP chief and later praising him for his constructive work in Baramati.
“I have never seen a PM who lies so much,” said Mr. Thackeray. “Modi calls himself pradhan sevak. The term itself was first used by [Jawaharlal] Nehru, who had called himself Pratham Sevak [first servant].”
Mr. Thackeray will be addressing a party rally on April 6 on the occasion of Gudhi-Padwa.