Uddhav Thackeray warned on Thursday that his party would retaliate against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for a backstab
Published Date – Thu 27 Apr 23 09:15 PM
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Mumbai: Former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chairman Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday warned that his party would retaliate against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his team for a backstab 11 months ago.
Speaking at the 55th anniversary celebration of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), Thackeray said that “everyone has their day, but ours is not past”.
“They stabbed us in the back. I will definitely pay them back. Whatever ‘prasad’ we give them, they will remember it for the rest of their lives,” Thackeray said to thunderous applause, alongside BKS secretary-general Raghunath Kuchik and other senior union leaders.
Thackeray accused Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of being “insensitive” to labor issues, saying they only cared about industrialists and not workers or farmers.
Thackeray hit back at ruling Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant who accused him of opposing mega projects, saying instead that when he was CM in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the state received investments worth Rs 25 trillion and its industrial policy attracted 25 big industry.
“However, this government has allowed many industries to go out to other states. Vedanta-Foxconn, Tata-Airbus, Bulk Drugs Park. Milnadu,” Thackeray said.
Questioning the government’s claim that the projects are in the public interest, Thackeray said if that was the case, “then why would you impose them on people” and cited objections to the Bullet Train, Aarey Carport, Ratnagiri Petrochemical Project ETC .
“If I were in power, I would get the consent of the locals before doing these projects. They have to first try to understand the issues of the instigating (Ratnagiri) villagers and why they are against these projects,” Thackeray said.
Thackeray said he had personally met opponents of the Mumbai-Nagpur super highway and after they were persuaded, the government proceeded with the land acquisition in a transparent manner.
The former chief minister called on his campaigners to learn from the Delhi farmers’ unrest (2020-2021) against the three draconian farm laws of yesteryear, which the government was forced to withdraw after a year of cultivator struggles.
“International Labor Day is coming (May 1st). Founder of Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) has added ‘Jai Kamgar’ to the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ because you are also doing nation building work, said Thackeray.
