Mumbai civic polls: Uddhav, Raj Thackeray attack BJP for ‘fake’ Hindutva

Accusing the BJP of playing divisive politics ahead of elections, Uddhav said, "BJP's Hindutva and nationalism are fake."

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray on Sunday launched a scathing attack against the BJP over its “fake Hindutva” at a joint rally for civic polls, saying their political reunion was triggered by imminent “danger” to Mumbai.

In the last joint rally in Mumbai ahead of the January 15 civic body polls, which is being perceived as a survival battle after their drubbing in the 2024 assembly polls, Uddhav said he and MNS chief Raj Thackeray have buried their differences for the Marathi manoos, Hindus, and Maharashtra.

Love for Marathi has to be in the blood, Uddhav said, as he and Raj Thackeray tried to portray themselves as the only alternative for people to save Mumbai. Appealing to the core Marathi vote base, Raj said the two cousins had come together because Mumbai was facing a serious threat.

Both leaders accused the BJP of “looting” Mumbai and alleged that the party was attempting to connect the city to Gujarat. They also claimed that Mumbai’s and Maharashtra’s assets were being handed over to the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate.

‘Larger plan to control Mumbai’

Raj alleged that after the BJP came to power in 2014, the government consistently favoured Adani. Referring to the proposed Vadhavan port, he said it was adjacent to Gujarat and claimed that controlling Palghar, Thane, and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region was part of a larger plan to control Mumbai.

“The long-term plan is to connect Mumbai with Gujarat,” Raj said, citing projects such as the Mumbai–Ahmedabad bullet train. “They cannot sell land to Adani if the BMC is with us,” the MNS president said, urging people to vote for the coalition.

“This is the last election for the Marathi manoos. If he makes a mistake now, the battle for Mumbai will be lost forever,” Raj warned. He added that even when the Congress was in power, it was mindful of public opinion, whereas the current government had taken people for granted. Speaking after Raj, the Sena (UBT) chief questioned whether the BJP wants to rename Mumbai as “Bombay”, invoking remarks by Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai.

“(Narendra) Modi ji at the Centre, Devendra (Fadnavis) at the state and a BJP mayor in the BMC…because Bombay is not a Maharashtra city. It is an international city,” Annamalai said on Friday ahead of the January 15 elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

BJP has hidden agenda: Uddhav

Uddhav said Annamalai has revealed the BJP’s hidden agenda. Accusing the BJP of playing divisive politics ahead of elections, Uddhav said, “BJP’s Hindutva and nationalism are fake.”

“Show us an election where you have not played politics of Hindu-Muslim,” Uddhav said. He also criticised the BJP over the India-Pakistan cricket match played during the World Championship last year, calling it “shamelessness.”

“The BJP has become a party that says ‘corruption first’ instead of ‘nation first’,” Uddhav said. He alleged corruption of Rs 3 lakh crore in the BMC during the Shiv Sena–BJP government and claimed irregularities in infrastructure projects, alleging that 50–60 per cent of cement was procured from Adani.

Marathi Manoos test: Raj

Targeting the BJP’s alliances, Uddhav said, “What the BJP does is ‘Amar Prem’, and what we do is labelled ‘love jihad’,” referring to the party’s tie-ups with AIMIM in Akot (Akola) and Congress in Ambernath. Raj, meanwhile, alleged that the BJP had given a ticket in Tuljapur to a person accused of drug peddling.

On the three-language formula and the proposal to make Hindi mandatory for Classes 1 to 5, Raj said the move was meant to “test whether the Marathi manoos is conscious or not.”

“There is no anger against any language, but against its imposition,” he said.The MNS president asked party workers to keep an eye on EVMs and double voters. He also asked them to thrash such electors if they are found voting.