With no let-up in the growing friction between the ruling saffron alliance partners ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday hit out at BJP president Amit Shah, saying that no party should consider the Sena as “weak” and that “no one is either born yet or will ever take birth who can defeat my party”.
Addressing a conference of the Sena’s Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti (SLS) Mahasangh here, Uddhav also ridiculed the Centre's decision to keep the annual income limit of Rs 8 lakh for reservations for economically weaker sections under the general category and wondered if the Modi government would simultaneously raise the basic income tax exemption limit to the same level.
In a rhetorical rebuff to Shah’s recent statement that if the Sena preferred to go it alone in the Lok Sabha polls, it faced defeat at the hands of the BJP, Uddhav said: “Some people are talking about defeating the Shiv Sena. I should tell them: no one is either born yet or will ever take birth who can defeat the Shiv Sena. No one should consider us weak. So many waves have come and gone. We are never scared of high or low tides. We defeat the waves. It is the Shiv Sena wave that is on now”.
Uddhav was referring to Shah’s dig at the Shiv Sena and subsequent exhortation to his party workers -- made at Latur recently -- to prepare themselves to go it alone in the Lok Sabha polls. “Yuti hogi toh saathi ko jeetayenge, nahin toh patak denge… ( If we contest the elections together, we will ensure victory for their candidates, otherwise we will trounce them),” the BJP president had said.
Alluding to the new Rs 8 lakh as the annual income limit for reservations for economically weaker sections under the general category, Uddhav said: “On one hand you consider all those whose annual income is below Rs 8 lakh as economically backward class. On the other hand, you keep Rs 2.5 lakh as the basic income tax exemption limit. I would like to know if the Modi government will do away income tax for all those earning less than Rs 8 lakh a year. If Modi does this, we will not hesitate in accepting that Modi has a chest of not just 56 inches but he has chest of 256 inches”.
Slamming the Modi government for its failure to keep its promises made during the 2014 polls, Uddhav said: “Some people fail to deliver on their promises. But, they never fall short when it comes to having a dig at others. Mere promises won’t help matters. It is not the question of victory or defeat but what is importance is confidence. Once you lose confidence, you will not win any war”. He went onto lampoon the BJP leaders for raising the issues like the caste of Lord Hanuman or other Gods.
However, justifying the Sena’s decision to Ram Mandir an issue in the polls, Uddhav singled out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attack on the Mandir issue. “Here’s the most powerful man in this world and who is considered by his party workers as the reincarnation of Maha Vishnu. But, he says he cannot build the temple at this juncture. If that is the case, why is the BJP making Ram Mandir an issue in the polls. Modi should realise that the Sena and BJP had come together on the Hindutva plank. As far as Shiv Sena is concerned, we want Ram Mandir”.
Daring Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Lok Janshati Party to come clean on the Ram Mandir issue, Uddhav asked the BJP leadership to bring all its constituents on one platform and seek clarification from them if all them wanted Ram temple or not.
“You people are coming together on a common minimum programme. Depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of people was a jumla. Achhe Din was a jumla. Is Ram Mandir promise also a jumla. The BJP should clarify. Mere accusing the Congress of creating hurdles on the Ram Mandir temple issue won’t help. The Ram Mandir issue was before the court even earlier. Then why was the BJP seeking votes in the name of Ram Mandir?,” Uddhav asked.
Uddhav’s remarks are a reiteration of the Sena’s stand that his party would go it alone in the Lok Sabha polls.
While interacting with party workers at Latur in Marathwada region, Shah had said last week that even without an alliance with the Shiv Sena, the BJP would win at least 40 out of 48 seats in the state.
It may be recalled that in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls which the two saffron parties had contested as an alliance, the BJP and Shiv Sena had contested 26 and 22 seats respectively in the state.
The two parties had put up a spectacular performance in the polls by together winning 40 seats (BJP-22 and Sena-18 seats) out of total 48 seats.