In his continued criticism of the Centre, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said on Monday that despite it having completed two years in office, the BJP-led NDA Government had not succeeded in tackling acts of terrorism in Kashmir effectively, but was optimistic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would “set things right”.
Describing the Modi Government as the “last hope” for the country, Uddhav said, “I am not thinker or a philosopher. But, I can gauge the mood of the people. We have to be tit for tat in our respond to acts of terror. Given that it has completed two years in office, the NDA Government should have been able to control acts of terrorism, but we see nothing of that sort at the moment. But, I am optimistic that Modi will set things right”.
Asked to comment on current economic situation, Uddhav said in the second part of his marathon interview published in his party’s official mouth-piece Saamana, “Common man has nothing to do with the happenings in the stock market. He is more concerned about the price rise. Have the prices (of essential commodities) really come downIJ Have the lives of people changed because of the change in Government at the Centre. I would like experts to throw some light on this”.
The Sena president, however, said he had reasons to believe that it would take some time for economic situation to improve in the country. “But, we should know for sure that we are on the recovery as far as economic situation is concerned…. “Be it Make in India, Achche Din, Stand up India or Skill India, these were launched with fanfare but is there a roadmap to implement itIJ Have the unemployed got employmentIJ... Mere changing the names of old schemes is easy. But we should ensure “start ups” become “take-offs”… Mere claims would not help. If we continue like that, people will know whether our claims are true or lies,” Uddhav said.
Asked to name five accomplishments of the Modi Government during the last two years, Uddhav said that since the Government had done so many things, it was difficult for him to pick five feats of the NDA Governments. “There is nothing wrong in the Government advertising its accomplishments. The people should also know in which direction the country is going. Given that the Government has done so many things, it is difficult for me to pick its five best accomplishments”.
On Modi’s failure to fulfil his promise of bringing black money from abroad and putting Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of each poor person, Uddhav said, “The promise helped the BJP. But what is next. Advertisements will sell for time. But, the things will prove to be difficult for the Government”.
Uddhav, however, expressed immense optimism in the abilities of Prime Minister Modi, when he said: “The Modi government is the last hope for this country. We may be in touch with him or not, but our best wishes are always with him. Because, if this government fails, then I do not see anyone else who can save this country”.
Dismissing speculations that there were differences between the Shiv Sena and BJP over the allocation of portfolios both in the state and at the Centre, Uddhav said: “Who says we have not got proper portfolios. It is media which is unnecessarily beating this drum”.
Replying to a question, Uddhav admitted that communication between the leaders of the saffron alliance was not as much as it used to be when senior leaders Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde who had facilitated commutation link the Shiv Sena and central BJP leadership
On his relations between him and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Sena president said: “ I have good relations with the chief minister here. We have good interactions between us. But the BJP should do something to establish a better co—ordination between us and its bosses in Delhi”