Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Those helping BJP are state's enemies, says Uddhav Thackeray

Uddhav Thackeray and son Tejas at the Shri Ambabai Temple in Kolhapur on Tuesday. Pic/X

Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday hit the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 campaign trail and pitched the November 20 polls as a battle between those who love the state and the ones who betray it, reported news agency PTI.

Hitting out at his former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its partners, Thackeray said those helping the national party are "enemies" of Maharashtra. He also made a slew of promises to voters, including building a temple of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in every district if the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comes to power after the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024.

According to PTI, Thackeray was addressing his first rally of the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 in Radhanagri, Kolhapur district. Prakash Abitkar, one of the 40 Shiv Sena legislators who rebelled against his leadership in 2022 and led to the party's split, is the current legislator from Radhanagri.

Thackeray he said those who love the state are aligned with the opposition MVA which comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Those helping the BJP, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti bloc, are "enemies" of the state, Thackeray remarked, and accused his former ally of "selling" Maharashtra to Gujarat, where it is in power.

According to PTI, Thackeray stated that his government was toppled in June 2022 because he did not allow the BJP to harm Maharashtra. He also claimed that not a single industrial project moved out of the state when the MVA was in power under his chief ministership.

BJP trying to divide people on religion, caste for power: Uddhav Thackeray

"[Maharashtra assembly poll] is a fight between those who love the state and the ones who betray it," Thackeray told the gathering.

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) President started his speech with the sentence 'Jamlelya Majhya Tamam Maharashtra Premi Bandhavanu, Matanu ani Baghinino (My Maharashtra-loving brothers, mothers and sisters)', seeking to position the electoral battle as a fight between "the ones who love the state and those who work against it".

In his campaign speeches during the Lok Sabha polls in April-May, Thackeray would start his address with the sentence 'My Maharashtra loving brothers, mothers and sisters'. It was contrary to his regular Hindutva-rooted 'My Hindu brothers, mothers and sisters' opening remarks at rallies, perhaps reflecting his alignment with the Congress and the NCP (SP) which project themselves as "secular".

Referring to petitions filed by his party in the Supreme Court seeking disqualifications of rebel Sena Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Thackeray emphasised that he has still not got justice from the top judiciary and hence has come to people's court for justice.

"I am not fighting for myself, but for you and Maharashtra," the former CM insisted.

He also accused the BJP of trying to divide people on the basis of religion and castes for the sake of power.

Attacking the state's Eknath Shinde-led dispensation, which assumed office after the fall of the MVA administration, Thackeray alleged the government works on "commission".

Talking about the Mahayuti government's flagship scheme for poor women, the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', Thackeray said the police were not even ready to register the complaint of the mother of the girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted at a school in Badlapur in Thane district in August.

He further stated that while the government is implementing the Ladki Bahin Yojana, under which underprivileged women are provided a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500, the inflation is spiralling, making essential commodities costly for common citizens.

Thackeray promised that if the MVA comes to power after the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024, every district in the state will have a temple of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The former CM said if possible, he will also build a temple dedicated to the 17th century Maratha warrior king in Surat in present-day Gujarat, a city linked to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's military campaign.

During the rally, Thackeray assured that after the MVA comes to power, the rates of essential food items such as rice, pulses, oil and sugar will be stabilised.

Currently, education for female students is free in the state, but the MVA government will extend this benefit to male pupils, too, Thackeray said.

The former chief minister further assured that all-female police stations will be established in the state with an aim to provide a safe and accessible environment for women to file complaints and seek redressal of their grievances.

He reiterated that the multi-crore Dharavi Redevelopment Project in Mumbai, being executed by the Adani Group, will be scrapped if the MVA comes to power and also assured the payment of minimum support price (MSP) to farmers for their crops under an MVA dispensation.

The polling for the 288-member assembly will take place on November 20 and votes will be counted three days later. In all, 4,140 candidates are in the fray across the state.

(With PTI inputs)