Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray took on Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday and said that one promising to scrap the sedition law should not be allowed to contest elections. Thackeray called the Congress chief “unworthy” of becoming the prime minister.

Thackeray, who was speaking at the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance’s first election rally in Mumbai, at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, also questioned the Gandhi’s leadership.

The Sena’s criticism of Gandhi came after it lauded him for steering the Congress to victory in the Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh assembly elections late last year. Sena leaders had also heaped praises on him for keeping the BJP below the 100-seat mark during the Gujarat assembly elections in 2017.

“Rahul Gandhi said Gareebi Hatao, but your grandmother gave this slogan. That slogan has come true for you, not for the people. You made a fool out of us, cannot do it again...Rahul Gandhi says repeal Article 370. Will you give your nation in the hands of an anti-national and unworthy person?” Thackeray asked.

Referring to Gandhi’s statement earlier this year when he called Veer Savarkar a “coward”, Thackeray said, “If Gandhi will insult our idols, we will pull out his tongue.” He said he thought Gandhi was “improving”. “But the question before everybody is what is Gandhi doing,” he said, questioning his leadership ability.

Thackeray also slammed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for questioning the Sena-BJP alliance. “Last week, I went to Gandhinagar when Amit Shah was filing his nomination. I was criticised for that by the NCP. They do not have the right to question us. What we did was done openly, unlike them. They quietly gave support to BJP (in the state). They kept asking why we are not quitting. Now I know why they asked. They wanted to come [and join the government] after we quit. We [BJP-Sena] are together, because we are of one ideology,” Thackeray said.

The Sena chief said there is “no opponent” in this election. He quipped that the Opposition parties is “punctured” against the united National Democratic Alliance. He said that they are getting people on rent to “inflate the balloon that already has holes”. Thackeray, who shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in Latur, said that “staunch Hindus” are happy.

While campaigning for Mumbai South candidate Arvind Sawant, Thackeray said, “The racecourse is for Mumbai and should be kept open for Mumbaiites. My dream is to build a world-class park here,” he said, adding that the eastern waterfront of Mumbai too will be developed for Mumbaiites.

Taking on Sawant’s opponent, Congress’s Milind Deora, Uddav said, “Milind Deora is a kid. Murli Deora got his identity because of Balasaheb Thackeray. If he wants to attack us, he can, but he should be cautious.”

Sawant, meanwhile, took on Deora and said he was sitting within “four walls for nearly five years, and has come before elections to ask where is Sawant.” He added that mill workers have not got their homes because of the policies of the earlier Congress government in Maharashtra.

First Published: Apr 10, 2019 00:05 IST