To hell with the alliance, says Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has taken an aggressive stand over relations with the BJP saying, “to hell with the alliance.” Mr Thackeray said that the assurance of a loan waiver given by the BJP was utterly false and that talks of an alliance were meaningless at a time when farmers were facing a crisis.

Mr Thackeray started his tour of drought-affected areas in the Marathwada region from Beed district Wednesday. Addressing the rally, he said that the Centre's crop insurance scheme was "as big a scam" as the Rafale fighter jet deal. The Sena chief assured the farmers of his support whether he was in power or not. “I will end the drought in your life, you give your support to the Shiv Sena. One must be able to recognise a liar from the one who is truly yours. Empty promises will not fill your empty water pots. I have come here to push the lazy python-like government machinery into action,” he said.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent foreign tours, he said that mere speeches and announcements would not help the public, and demanded that the BJP-led government solve farmers’problems before looking at alliance talks for the forthcoming elections.

“Daily, you are visiting different countries and say that the country is changing. How many days are left for you? To hell with the alliance, first tell me what you are going to do for my farmers? I do not do “Maan Ki Baat, I do “Jaan Ki Baat.” There is a massive scam in the crop insurance scheme. You could neither solve farmers’ problems nor could you resolve the Ram Mandir issue," he said.