Shiv Sena (UBT) not just a party but an idea; BJP can not finish it: Uddhav

Days after facing defeat in the Mumbai civic body polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has said that the BJP was mistaken if it thought it could finish his party, which was not just a political entity but an idea.

Addressing party workers on Friday at an event organised as part of the birth centenary celebrations of late Bal Thackeray, his father and the founder of the undivided Shiv Sena, Uddhav said many people are trying to erase the Thackeray name, but it won’t happen. His cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who spoke before Uddhav, said the political situation in the State was like a “market of slaves” and referred to the civic body polls, including those in the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation, as an “auction” taking place in the State.

“The BJP is wrong if it thinks it can finish Shiv Sena (UBT). The Shiv Sena (UBT) is not a party but an idea,” Uddhav said. Had the Shiv Sena not been there, the BJP would have never seen the inside of the BMC or “Mantralaya” (the State Government’s headquarters), said the former chief minister.

His remarks came after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the January 15 polls to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), winning 89 seats in the 227-member House.  In alliance with the Shiv Sena (29 seats) headed by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the national party ended the Thackerays’ decades-long control over India’s richest civic body.

The Shiv Sena (UBT)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) combine put up a better-than-expected fight in the BMC polls, but failed to stop the BJP-led Mahayuti from crossing the majority mark. The Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, while the MNS, led by Raj Thackeray, bagged 6.

“They want to swallow Mumbai,” Uddhav further said, adding that money power was used for the first time during the civic polls in the city. The BMC results may not be as per what the party desired, but the Opposition is a strong force in the civic body, he said.

The Opposition faced several hurdles, such as flawed electoral rolls, and the result would have been even more different had the Sena (UBT) not identified dual voters, Uddhav said.

“We have to start afresh,” he said, adding that the Sena was born not for power but for fighting for the rights of Marathi manoos. He also said that attempts were afoot to impose non-Marathi culture on Maharashtra, and the decision (later revoked) to make Hindi compulsory in schools from Class 1 was part of this conspiracy. The slogan “Jai Maharashtra” — commonly used by Shiv Sena workers - was in danger, Uddhav said, and urged everyone to use it as a greeting. Raj said it was Bal Thackeray who proved that Hindus could be a political force, and even the BJP did not think that such a consolidation was possible.