Shiv Sena Wasted 25 Years In Alliance With BJP: Maha CM Uddhav

Mumbai: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that he’s reiterating that Shiv Sena “wasted 25 years in alliance with BJP”.

“Shiv Sena had aligned with BJP as it wanted power for Hindutva. Sena never used Hindutva for the sake of power,” he said while virtually addressing Shiv Sena members on the 96th birth anniversary of the party founder and his father, Bal Thackeray.

Thackeray said the Shiv Sena has abandoned the BJP, not Hindutva, and added that the BJP’s opportunistic Hindutva is only for power.

Thackeray also said that the 25 years the Shiv Sena spent as an ally with the BJP were in vain.

“BJP does not mean Hindutva. I stand by my remark that Shiv Sena has wasted 25 years in alliance with BJP.

After the 2019 Maharashtra elections, Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government along with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress.

He said, “We wholeheartedly supported the BJP to enable them to fulfil their national ambitions. The understanding was that he would be national while we would lead in Maharashtra. But we were deceived and tried to destroy us in our house. So, we had to retaliate,” he said, justifying his decision to forge an alliance with the NCP and the Congress.

Stating that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had shrunk after Akali Dal and Shiv Sena exited the block, he alleged that the BJP uses its allies according to its political convenience and leaves them.

Thackeray said the Shiv Sena should expand beyond Maharashtra and aim to capture Delhi.

“I have accepted the challenge given by Union home minister Amit Shah that Shiv Sena should contest elections on its own,” Thackeray said.

He also hit out at Maharashtra BJP leaders for attacking him over his health.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.