Don't teach us about Hindutva: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray slams BJP

File Photo (ANI)

New Delhi: The Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday (March 3, 2021) slammed BJP and asked the party to not teach him about the Hindutva.

Uddhav Thackeray responded to Bharatiya Janata Party's comments on Shiv Sena supremo giving up his Hindutva ideology and said, "You formed the government with separatists in Kashmir...You shared power with them. Didn't your Hindutva get corrupted then?"

During the third day of the Budget Session in the Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly, Thackeray said, "How many displaced Kashmiri Pandits got homes? Don't teach us about Hindutva, you are not qualified to do that."

The Maharashtra CM also told the former ally that they did not keep their promise of sharing the chief minister's post though it had been discussed by him and the then BJP chief Amit Shah in the room (in the Thackeray residence) where late Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray once lived.

"Is this your love for Balasaheb? We don't consider that room as a room, but it is a temple," he said.

This is to be noted that the Shiv Sena had parted ways from BJP following the 2019 Assembly elections. They had then formed the 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' government in an alliance with Congress and NCP.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister also hit out at the Centre over several other issues including the ongoing farmers' protests on the outskirts of Delhi. 

He said, "Barbed wire fencing, which should have been erected along the border, was erected between farmers and Delhi... China would not have intruded had such an arrangement been made there (along the border)."

"Farmers are waiting for their income to double as promised but it has not happened," he said. He added, "Instead, fuel prices have doubled."

Thackeray also asked the Union government why they have not conferred Bharat Ratna to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the Hindutva ideologue.

"Letters were sent (to the Centre) twice, seeking Bharat Ratna for Savarkar. Who confers Bharat Ratna? It is the right of the prime minister and a committee," he said.

The BJP has also questioned the 'delay' in renaming Aurangabad in central Maharashtra, named after the Mughal emperor, as Sambhajinagar.

To this, Thackeray asked, "You don't give Bharat Ratna to Savarkar and you preach us about renaming?" and added that Aurangabad will be definitely renamed.

(With inputs from PTI)