Devendra Fadnavis woos Mumbai’s north Indians to help oust Sena from BMC

MUMBAI: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday sought the support of the north Indian community to “overthrow” the Shiv Sena from the BMC in order to rid the city of corruption. Elections to several civic bodies in the state, including Mumbai where the Shiv Sena has ruled for more than two decades, are due this year.
The BJP’s Hindi Bhashi Mahasankalp Sabha at Nesco in Goregaon on Sunday began with the chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa. “We have now started chanting the Hanuman Chalisa; Lanka will soon be burnt down,” Fadnavis said.
Terming the north Indian community in the city Mumbaikars, he invoked Hindutva and reminded those present that the BJP is its true torchbearer.
While Fadnavis began his speech in Hindi, he soon switched to Marathi saying the Hindi ‘bhashi’ do understand Marathi.
Hitting out at CM Thackeray, who at his public rally on Saturday had made fun of Fadnavis for being obese— saying had he stepped on the Babri dome, it would have certainly come down—Fadnavis vowed to pull down the Sena-led MVA government.
Fadnavis says he will do to Sena what he did to Babri
A day after chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s tirade against the Centre, former CM Devendra Fadnavis targeted the Shiv Sena and its leader. “I will not rest till I bring down the Babri structure of your power,” he said at a BJP rally in Goregaon.
Fadnavis said he now weighs 102kg, and was 128kg when he went to pull down Babri Masjid. He warned that though Thackeray backstabbed him and tried to reduce his political weight, he would bring down the MVA government. “Balasaheb Thackeray used to call Sharad Pawar ‘maidyacha pota’ (a sack of flour). Be careful of heavyweight people,” he warned.
Describing Thackeray’s rally as a “laughter show”, the BJP leader said Thackeray did not speak on the corruption during the Covid pandemic, the scams involving former home minister Anil Deshmukh and NCP minister Nawab Malik, the Rs 5,000-crore sewage treatment plant scam, and Sena leader Yashwant Jadhav’s exponential increase in property. “He is the first CM who has not spoken on the state’s development or the people of the state. During Balasaheb Thackeray’s son’s reign, it is seditious to chant the Hanuman Chalisa, but to pay tribute at Aurangazeb’s grave is fine,” he said.
The crowd went wild as Fadnavis made a clear reference to a Hindu Rashtra. He said his comment that not a single Sena leader was prese-nt when the Babri dome was brought down, has singed the party. “Yes, I did go to bring down Babri and before that I went for the Kar Seva and spent several days in Badayu jail. With ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), I went to Kashmir and stood by the Kashmiris when they were being harassed by terrorists. I did not do five-star politics, rather I have always been on the ground. I was not born with a golden spoon and so I have reached this far,” he said.
On environment minister Aaditya Thackeray’s tweet calling his CM father a ‘wagh’ (tiger), Fadnavis asked which agitation he had participated in. “Last two years of pandemic, Uddhav Thackeray was on Facebook Live, while I was alive. Photography does not make you a tiger. He said his father was gullible while he is shrewd. This is true. A tiger is innocent but you know which animal is shrewd.” The audience replied: “Kolha” (jackal).
Thackeray, Fadnavis said, should focus on the state rather than talk on other matters. “Within 24 hours of a Kashmiri being killed, three terrorists were shot dead. You are still not able to take action against Sharjeel, while Modi carried out surgical and air strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.” Thackeray’s speech, he claimed, was an appeasement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “The language that Congress uses for RSS was used by Thackeray.” On Thackeray’s warning that attempts are being made to sep-arate Mumbai from Maharas-htra, Fadnavis said the state gazette notes that Jan Sangh had participated in Samyukta Maharashtra movement. “We want to separate Mumbai fr-om your corruption. You have spared nothing—roads, sto-rmwater drains, footpaths…”