As campaigning for the Mumbai civic polls ended on Tuesday, Uddhav Thackeray took aim at Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, questioning whether his recent “shoot at sight” order for man-eater leopards would extend to industrialists destroying forests.
“To control the menace caused by leopards, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik recently ordered ‘shoot at sight’. But what about those who are grabbing forest land? Will he also order ‘shoot at sight’ for such industrialists who are intruding into forests?” Uddhav asked.
Taking a dig at the ruling BJP government, he also declared his former political ally “dead,” claiming that while the party once stood for “Rashtra Pratham,” it has now become “Chor and corruption Pratham.”
Uddhav compared the suppression of opposition voices in Maharashtra to a “cough,” saying, “Cough is the main issue of this election. This is due to massive pollution in the atmosphere as well as in Maharashtra’s politics. They want to suppress our voice. We will not let them do so.”
He criticised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, claiming the BJP government does not understand Mumbai. “We had Rs 92,000 crore in fixed deposits with the Mumbai BMC during our tenure. They broke the FDs and brought it down to Rs 70,000 crore. Now an additional debt burden of Rs 3 lakh crore has been added to the corporation,” he said.
Uddhav further alleged, “The Central government always used to keep Rs 25,000 crore of our taxes pending. They want us to beg in front of them.”
On the issue of local leadership, he said the Mayor of Mumbai and Thane should always be Marathi. “They say it will be Hindu, why? Don’t they consider Maharashtrians Hindus? We are Nationalist first, and then we are Gujaratis in Gujarat, Tamilians in Tamil Nadu,” he added.
He emphasised that the election was not about the Thackeray brothers, but a struggle for the people, to whom he is accountable. Uddhav also suggested that Ganesh Naik might be used to challenge Eknath Shinde, alleging that Shinde would be manipulated by the BJP.
Describing the BJP as a “monster” that eventually swallows everyone, Uddhav claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who rose with Balasaheb Thackeray’s support, later tried to undermine Shiv Sena, reflecting the party’s true character.