Uddhav Thackeray showed mirror to BJP in his Dussehra speech, says NCP's Nawab Malik

Mumbai: The NCP on Monday defended Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over his criticism of the BJP during the Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally, saying he "mirrored reality" to the NDA lead constituent through his speech.

Minority Affairs Minister and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik accused the BJP of misleading the people and playing religion-based politics.

The minister said the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), consisting of the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress, is working on the lines of the common minimum programme worked out by the three parties in November last year.

The three MVA partners have not given up their respective ideologies while being part of the coalition government, he said.

"The chief minister has shown a mirror to the BJP on the real situation. The chief minister showed through his speech how the BJP misleads people," the NCP leader said.

"He publicly expressed his views about how the Governor or their leaders mislead the people," Malik said.

Speaking during the Shiv Sena's annual Dussehra rally, Thackeray had hit out at the BJP over a range of issues, dared it to topple his 11-month-old government and asked his former ally to first protect its government at the Centre.

Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, had also targeted Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari among others.

Countering the chief minister on Monday, the BJP picked holes in his speech and alleged the Shiv Sena's Hindutva has become adulterated in the company of the NCP-Congress.